Perception of risk in track and field venue management: are hammer facilities overlooked?

The purpose of this paper is to determine the level of compliance with National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Track and Field Hammer Facility Recommendations at Division I universities in the USA, and to determine factors related to perceptions of facility safety.

A 35‐item survey instrument was distributed to 279 applicable schools with a 28 percent response rate. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to determine factors significantly related to overall perception of safety.

A total of 78.1 percent participants in the study report compliance with the NCAA minimum recommendations and 38 percent also meet the IAAF standards. Analysis of the perceived safety reported by coaches reveal a significant prediction equation. Further analyses reveal significant risk involving some current facilities guidelines.

The NCAA may need to examine their present hammer facility guidelines and consider alignment with the new standards of the IAAF.

The paper creates a new application of statistical analyses for risk perception in a specific sport setting.