This question comes up quite a few times. Let’s face it, competitions are inherently risky, if you’re unclear if an online waiver is valid, then go with your gut and cover all basis. Digital waivers can be valid depending on the technology and amount of proof you have that can tie back to the person that “acknowledged and signed” that waiver online. If you have that budget, then its a nice feature to have.
While Competition Corner has an online waiver feature, we recommend you treating as a gateway for Athletes to acknowledge they’ve read and understand the risks involved.
In our opinion, online waivers should be treated as your first line of defense for an acknowledgement of the risks involved in competing because you don’t totally know who’s actually registering. Let’s face it, while 95% of the time, the athlete is registering themselves, that other 5% are registrants that were signed up by their coaches, sponsors, etc… having said that, let’s not throw caution to the wind, treat that online waiver as an acknowledgement and incorporate the requirement for each athlete to ink sign a waiver during athlete check in.
Let’s not cut corners, we’ve seen in the past at some high profile events, so let’s learn from that and protect the integrity of your brand.