NY day camp law could outlaw kickball, tag, Red Rover, Wiffle Ball
April 19, 2011
By CHRIS CAROLA - Associated Press , Adirondack Daily Enterprise

ALBANY - Red Rover, Red Rover, don't even think about coming over.

That could be the scenario this summer for day camps and similar programs across New York, where a lawmaker says new state Department of Health regulations will put a serious crimp in the fun of thousands of children.

State Sen. Patricia Ritchie of Watertown wants the agency to postpone regulations under a new law that says day campers face a "significant risk of injury" from traditional summer games including capture the flag, kickball and tag.

She wants the health commissioner to hold off on the latest guidelines because she believes they'll put a staffing and therefore financial burden on local recreational programs trying to comply with the law, which took effect April 1.

The amendment revises the definition of a summer children's day camp to include organized indoor group activities involving "nonpassive recreational activities with significant risk of injury."

Under the agency's guidelines, those include such activities as archery and rock climbing, but also Capture the Flag, kickball, Red Rover and Wiffle Ball.
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I didn't realize until I heard this news story yesterday that Dodgeball had been banned several years ago. But now they want to stop Wiffle Ball and Tag because kids might get hurt? Red Rover? Emergency rooms must be filled with kids injured playing Red Rover.

And we wonder why so many kids sit and play video games all day and gain weight.

What's next, or is there anything left? Is this an insurance company thing or just nervous parents?