In 2021 at a World Tour 1 Star event I was court side as court manager when Clemence Viera of France collided with the net post. Not by running into it but in a full length dive resulting in her head being the point of contact with the steel post. Yes the post had padding on it but the padding was just a 2cm thick piece of foam. Hardly protection for a head coming at speed into it. The collision force and noise was such that I expected Clemence to need some attention but she got up, said she was ok and carried on playing. Only 2 days later she posted on social media of a headache and a trip to the Doctors where concussion was diagnosed and rest imposed. I messaged her about it feeling some sense of responsibility--after all I had installed the posts and padding and was in charge of the court which includes safety and all equipment etc. However I was working with the equipment provided and with no guidelines or minimum requirements for padding on net posts neither myself or the Tournament organisers, referees or FIVB technical delegate had questioned the padding used.
But now this is something I take very seriously at every event I am working on! Just last month in Munich at the European Championships, where I was also court manager, the TV crew installed cameras on both the net posts about 30 cm above the sand--right at head height in a full length dive--right where Clemence had contacted the post in 2021. Clemence was playing in Munich so it was very present in my mind and after calling in the CEV delegate the TV cameras and brackets were removed at our request. However the next day the TV crew came back and installed different smaller cameras and despite my protests the CEV delegate decided they could stay. TV came over player safety. These smaller cameras still protruded approx 20cm from the post meaning they stuck out of the opening in the padding. No additional padding was provided around the camera meaning any contact with them would have been a direct impact on a solid metal object.
In my opinion even without the cameras protruding the thin 2cm padding was insufficient for player safety. Requiring a certain thickness of padding would be a good start--the pads that net suppliers Funtec and Senoh provide are much thicker and should be a minimum requirement. Requiring additional padding around protrusions such as cameras in posts would also be a good move as would requiring such cameras to be relatively small with very little protrusion in the first place. Lastly ensuring your court managers are knowledgeable of all court equipment regulations and players safety issues and are able to identify and solve these issues as they arise will assist in providing a safe playing environment.
A further step in the right direction would be to start seeing the Court Manager of any international event as a crucial and paid role. This should be an experienced professional paid to do this job. In my experience many event organisers and federations still see this as a volunteer role resulting in varying degrees of delivery.
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