City of Diboll, Texas v. Louie Lawson, Representative of the Estate of Carolyn Burns, 12-13-00344-CV

Carolyn Burns (later substituted by her estate's rep, Louie Lawson) attended her granddaughter's youth softball game at a city-owned baseball complex in Old Orchard Park.
After the game, while exiting on a paved sidewalk with other spectators, Burns tripped on a four-inch hollow metal pipe (a stanchion for a removable vehicle-barrier pole) protruding from the walkway and was injured.
The City of Diboll operates the park and permits the youth league and spectators to use the facilities at no charge.
Burns sued the City for premises liability, alleging the City failed to keep the walkway safe.
The City filed a plea to the jurisdiction invoking the recreational use statute, arguing Burns was engaged in "recreation" and thus the City retained immunity absent a showing of gross negligence; the trial court denied the plea.
The court of appeals reversed, holding spectating at a sporting event is "recreation" and dismissing for lack of pleadings/evidence of gross negligence; the Supreme Court granted review and, relying on University of Texas at Arlington v. Williams, reversed and remanded.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether spectating at a youth competitive sporting event is "recreation" under the recreational use statute	Watching the game and egress are not the kind of outdoor-nature activities the statute was meant to cover	Spectating at an outdoor game is "recreation," fitting the statute's catchall for activities associated with enjoying the outdoors; thus immunity applies	Spectating at a competitive sporting event (and related egress) is not "recreation" under the statute; statute inapplicable here
Whether dismissal for lack of pleading/evidence of gross negligence was proper if recreational-use statute applied	N/A (relied on statute's inapplicability)	If statute applies, plaintiff conceded lack of gross-negligence pleadings/evidence so dismissal was proper	Because the statute does not apply, the court of appeals' dismissal is reversed and the case remanded for further proceedings

State v. Shumake, 199 S.W.3d 279 (Tex. 2006) (discusses interplay between recreational use statute and governmental-immunity waiver)
Torres v. City of Bellmead, 89 S.W.3d 662 (Tex. 2002) (applied recreational use statute to playground equipment)
University of Texas at Arlington v. Williams, 459 S.W.3d 48 (Tex. 2015) (plurality and concurring opinions holding spectating at competitive sporting events is not "recreation" under the statute)