It May Not Be Exactly the Same as Watching Paint Dry, But Court Says Watching Soccer Is Not Recreation.

The plaintiff was watching her daughter participate in a high school soccer match at the defendant's facility.  After the match, while leaning on a gate to sign the school's required sing-out form for the daughter, the plaintiff fell approximately five feet and injured her ribs and arm.  The plaintiff sued for damages and the defendant asserted the state (TX) recreational use statute as a defense which would limit liability to intentional acts or gross negligence.  The defendant claimed that attending a soccer match was a recreational use covered by the statute.  The court disagreed on the basis that attendance at a soccer match was not a recreational use contemplated by the statute.  University of Texas at Arlington v. Williams, No. 13-0338, 2015 Tex. LEXIS 268 (Tex. Sup. Ct. Mar. 20, 2015).