Report Williams Suffers season ending injury. [ Merged Thread]

[meyers7]

Ah, that's a bummer. Best wishes for a quick recovery. Hopefully she'll be ready to go next season.

Just a guess, but the UConn academic year is not over, so she may be covered by whatever medical insurance the University has for student athletes.

I doubt the University is going to cover someone at a WNBA camp.

Hard to believe there isn’t some sort of provision for injuries! I can’t believe they would sign a CBA that didn’t protect players who suffer injuries on the job! If they did, they need new negotiators!

Pretty sure they would have medical in their CBA. Pretty sure they'd have to in order to prevent players suing.

 

[Geew1992]

I would like to know if there is any insurance provided.
I haven't seen anything about insurance publicized in writing or in their budget,
I have read that college players are responsible for their own medical expenses related to their injuries, surgery and such.
The NCAA doesn't provide it unless there's an insurance that they offer that can be privately purchased.
The team may have a therapist or even a doctor on staff to deal with some ailments , but I doubt that includes surgery.

There may be issues with a player getting injured off campus or outside of team sanctioned events that doesn't get properly documented, but could end up being a multi-million Dollar injury.
And I doubt that a university would want to accept financial liability for a catastrophic injury being insured, whether it happened on or off the court.
I'm talking about a broken neck, paralysis and possibly even worse.
I've read that the NCAA players had to provide their own medical insurance.
Athletes can buy private athlete insurance to protect potential future professional earnings such as if they suffer a significant injury, but it's very expensive and mostly applies to football players and other top ranked athletes who may lose draft position worth millions of Dollars due to their injury.

While it would be nice to learn differently about the athletes not being covered by team insurance, I'm not optimistic that anyone can shed light on whether UConn actually provides any.

Yes, insurance is provided to all athletes. I don't know if she is still covered, but she was while playing at Uconn. My daughter played D3 and the 1 injury she got was covered.

 

[willtalk]

Unless they are high draft picks, it is really important for a player to make a roster their first year. WNBA teams do not have the luxury of carrying unproductive players for future consideration. Unlike what some homer fans thought, she was not a lock to make a WNBA roster, basically because her outside shooting was not consistent enough and her strength in college was not going to translate that well to the Pro's against the strength and level of players there. She had a chance with the mystics because they were not that solid at guard, but this injury hurts. She was always borderline to make a team as it was. With the preseason and training camp being so short, perception matters more than actual ability. Its really difficult to make a roster via doing well in camp as an invite.

 

[oldude]

Unless they are high draft picks, it is really important for a player to make a roster their first year. WNBA teams do not have the luxury of carrying unproductive players for future consideration. Unlike what some homer fans thought, she was not a lock to make a WNBA roster, basically because her outside shooting was not consistent enough and her strength in college was not going to translate that well to the Pro's against the strength and level of players there. She had a chance with the mystics because they were not that solid at guard, but this injury hurts. She was always borderline to make a team as it was. With the preseason and training camp being so short, perception matters more than actual ability. Its really difficult to make a roster via doing well in camp as an invite.

I don’t disagree. But assuming a full recovery, Christyn has a clean slate to try to make the Mystics again next season. If she’s ready to compete for a job, Washington will once again welcome her with open arms. Then it’s all up to her.

 

[sun]

Yes, insurance is provided to all athletes. I don't know if she is still covered, but she was while playing at Uconn. My daughter played D3 and the 1 injury she got was covered.

I googled- insurance is provided for college basketball players - and came up with 2 results that may account for contradictory information being provided.
It appears that not all of the costs of treating injuries are totally covered.

When college athletes get injured Who pays?

NCAA bylaws require that student-athletes be covered by an insurance policy for athletically related injuries with coverage limits of at least $90,000 – at which point the NCAA catastrophic injury insurance program provides coverage. But they do not require that schools offer insurance.

Survey: Most DI schools provide injury coverage

A new survey indicates that a majority of Division I institutions provide insurance coverage to their student-athletes for athletically related injuries and that

www.ncaa.org

And:

Do college athletes have insurance?

The NCAA requires every student-athlete to have personal insurance. The insurance policy can be held by the student-athletes, parents, guardians or through the school. But every student-athlete must have medical insurance to be allowed to participate in intercollegiate games, practices or any team workouts.

Bleacherreport April 8, 2013 titled "NCAA Policies for Student-Athlete Medical Insurance Breakdown' by Cory Mccune
Trying to link the page doesn't work.

 

[Ozimoto]

Wishing Christyn the best for a full and speedy recovery. That is a tough way to start for building a professional career. As I recall, something similar happened with Moriah Jefferson...

 

[msf22b]

Not being a lawyer, but with some experience in dealing with contracts, it appears that under the collective bargaining agreement, Chistyn will receive her Rookie salary this season.

From the agreement as pertains to rookie's

(b) Basketball-Related Injury.
When a Team agrees to protect, in whole or in part, the Base Salary provided for in a Standard Player Contract in the event such Contract is terminated by the Team by reason of the player’s disability or unfitness to play skilled basketball resulting from a basketball-related injury, such agreement shall mean that, subject to any conditions or limitations... the termination of such Contract by the Team because the player has been disabled and/or is unfit to play skilled basketball as a direct result of an injury sustained while participating in any basketball practice or game played for the Team, or in any other basketball activity in which the player is required to participate under her Player Contract, shall in no way affect the player’s right to receive, in whole or in part, the Base Salary payable pursuant to Exhibit 1 of such Contract;

 

[oldude]

Not being a lawyer, but with some experience in dealing with contracts, it appears that under the collective bargaining agreement, Chistyn will receive her Rookie salary this season.

From the agreement as pertains to rookie's

(b) Basketball-Related Injury.
When a Team agrees to protect, in whole or in part, the Base Salary provided for in a Standard Player Contract in the event such Contract is terminated by the Team by reason of the player’s disability or unfitness to play skilled basketball resulting from a basketball-related injury, such agreement shall mean that, subject to any conditions or limitations... the termination of such Contract by the Team because the player has been disabled and/or is unfit to play skilled basketball as a direct result of an injury sustained while participating in any basketball practice or game played for the Team, or in any other basketball activity in which the player is required to participate under her Player Contract, shall in no way affect the player’s right to receive, in whole or in part, the Base Salary payable pursuant to Exhibit 1 of such Contract;

If memory serves, players who were injured in the past would sometimes be released by a team only after they came off the injury list. This would align with your understanding of the CBA.

 

[sun]

In the NFL, players who are injured during pre-season camp receive injury settlements /pay outs.
Though most still get cut from the team.

I wonder if this would give CW a chance to complete her degree if she didn't already.
I noticed during Senior Day that her expected graduation and the major of her degree wasn't announced as it was for the other seniors.
It would be great if she could complete her degree, both for her own benefit and as a measure of academic success for the UConn WBB program..

 

[Fairfield Fan]

I googled- insurance is provided for college basketball players - and came up with 2 results that may account for contradictory information being provided.
It appears that not all of the costs of treating injuries are totally covered.

When college athletes get injured Who pays?

NCAA bylaws require that student-athletes be covered by an insurance policy for athletically related injuries with coverage limits of at least $90,000 – at which point the NCAA catastrophic injury insurance program provides coverage. But they do not require that schools offer insurance.

Survey: Most DI schools provide injury coverage

A new survey indicates that a majority of Division I institutions provide insurance coverage to their student-athletes for athletically related injuries and that

www.ncaa.org

And:

Do college athletes have insurance?

The NCAA requires every student-athlete to have personal insurance. The insurance policy can be held by the student-athletes, parents, guardians or through the school. But every student-athlete must have medical insurance to be allowed to participate in intercollegiate games, practices or any team workouts.

Bleacherreport April 8, 2013 titled "NCAA Policies for Student-Athlete Medical Insurance Breakdown' by Cory Mccune
Trying to link the page doesn't work.

Right. I don't believe the university is required to provide coverage, but instead the family is expected to cover their children while playing. Wonder if Williams was covered during her few days at camp, considering that she had not been offered a contract, and hadn't made the team yet.

 

[sun]

Thanks for the info.
According to this site, CW's major is sociology.

Christyn Williams | Women’s Basketball 2021-22 | Senior CLASS Award

www.seniorclassaward.com

Right. I don't believe the university is required to provide coverage, but instead the family is expected to cover their children while playing. Wonder if Williams was covered during her few days at camp, considering that she had not been offered a contract, and hadn't made the team yet.

According to the coverage document for the UConn Student Health Insurance Plan (SHIP) under item #13, any injuries resulting from professional sports activities are not covered.

https://studenthealth.uconn.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1709/2021/05/2021-2022-UConn-Student-Health-Plan-SHIP.pdf

 

[Topdawg]

I wish Chrystin a speedy recovery. Tough way to start a job!

 

[baggerbob]

Right. I don't believe the university is required to provide coverage, but instead the family is expected to cover their children while playing. Wonder if Williams was covered during her few days at camp, considering that she had not been offered a contract, and hadn't made the team yet.

According to WNBA transactions she signed her rookie contract on 4/15/2022, that was before training camp started.
That would mean she was covered by the players CBA.

 

[Hayven]

 

[Two for Two]

I predict this will be a great come back story. I really feel she has more grit, determination and competitive fire than she is often given credit for having.

 

[veryolddog]

I am very sorry to hear of Chrystin's injury. I only can wish her a speedy recovery and a restoration or her full function.

 

[Oracle9]

Just a guess, but the UConn academic year is not over, so she may be covered by whatever medical insurance the University has for student athletes.