A few responses to some of your comments:
Are the indemnifications and waivers enforceable? Maybe yes and maybe no. Depends on so many legal factors. But that doesn’t stop people from filing a lawsuit or making a claim. The enforceability gets “discussed” after the claim or lawsuit has started.
Is the COVID based clause that much different than the same waiver used for other risks associated with playing? The biggest differences are: (i) it includes an indemnification provision which regular waiver forms do not have, and (ii) parents/players usually do not have to sign such a waiver/indemnification form when they play in regular tournaments pre-Covid. This means that anything you do at this event (even if unrelated to Covid, such as an injury) could carry greater legal consequences. This is why I was so gobsmacked by these forms.
The "willful misconduct" is having a large group gathering in the middle of a pandemic. That's beside the point, though-- either you are free to initiate legal action, or you aren't. This is the point. In this country, anyone is free to initiate legal action for any reason if he/she feels aggrieved.
No one is forcing anyone to participate, it's called freedom of choice and choices have consequences. If you choose to participate and get sick, don't try to sue someone else for your choices. I agree 100% with this comment, but the reality is that when someone gets sick, and they see an opportunity to make a claim that might net them some cash, why wouldn’t they do it? In many ways, having an indemnification provision exacerbates the problem as it provides a motivation or reason for people to pursue a claim that they normally wouldn’t have. In a normal situation, a person may not bother to pursue a claim against a club or player as there is no indemnification provision (i.e., there are a limited number of people/entities that can be sued), but when I know that I have an entire roster of players and the coach and the team manager obligated to indemnify, that is a lot more pockets that I can pick from.