Take The Time To Be Responsible
We’d hope that no one would intentionally harm a child. But it happens.
It happens on playgrounds and on soccer fields. It happens when adults fail to anchor soccer goals. The intent was not to harm, but tradgically, harm is the result of negligence.
The fact is soccer goals can fall over. There have been times when they have been blown over by a strong gust of wind. They have been pulled over by unsuspecting youngsters hanging from the crossbar or playing on the goal.
The common characteristic of all these incidents, some of which sadly have been fatal, is that the goals are not anchored. They were not secured to the ground.
In some cases they were never anchored, placed on the fields by adults and never checked or supervised. In others, they were moved and never anchored.
Goals are often moved in training sessions by coaches for various reasons. Too often they are not returned to their original location and anchored. The coach, sometimes a professional, sometimes a parent volunteer, is in a hurry to get home or to the next appointment.
Not taking the time to be responsible can have tragic consequences.
In January of 2011 a nine-year old boy was killed in Arkansas when an unanchored soccer goal tipped over and fell on top of him.
Jonathan Nelson, 9, was playing during recess at Elm Tree Elementary School in Bentonville, Arkansas. He and other classmates were playing around a soccer goal.
It tipped over, striking Nelson above his left eye, crushing his skull. Two school nurses were called to the site, and the fourth grader was transported to the medical center in Bentonville. He died at the hospital.
Almost a year later, on Jan. 7, 2012, in Newton Grove, NC, another nine-year old boy, Juan Escalera, was playing around with friends and family at a family gathering when a soccer goal tipped over and struck him on the head. He also died at the hospital.
This time the accident didn’t occur on a playground or on a soccer field. It was in a yard of a private residence.
Do you have a soccer goal in your backyard. Is it anchored? When you drop your kids for practice or for a game, are you sure the goals on the field are safe and anchored?
Zach Tran would be 13 years old today had he lived, but he died at age six when a soccer goal fell and struck him in the head.
Hayden Ellias would have celebrated his 15th birthday this past May, but a soccer goal fell on him during a boys vs. girls soccer game in Northern Virginia five years ago.[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’] He died when he was only 10 years old.
And there is good news and there is bad news.
First the good. Awareness of the dangers of unanchored soccer goals has resulted in mandates from state youth organizations and high school administrations that soccer goals be securely anchored before any games can begin. Game officials are required to check the goals.
Now the bad. Most accidents don’t happen during games, and there are still thousands of goals on fields all across this country that are unanchored at this very minute.
Jonathan’s Law Is Progress
The list is long. Over the past 20 years there have been dozens of deaths by soccer goals. All have not been young children. They have included teenagers and adults. One report lists 35 deaths between 1979 and 2009, along with 56 reported injuries. There have been others since that report was released.
Jonathan’s name also has gone on a legislative bill that fast-tracked through the Arkansas General Assembly, now known as Jonathan’s Law. Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe signed the bill into law on March 31, 2011.
Jonathan’s Law requires all soccer goals at schools and public recreation areas to be anchored and secured on a level surface. It also requires that they be manufactured by a company that makes sports equipment.
There are other states with similar laws.
Pushback From Arkansas State Soccer
At the time of its passing, Arkansas State Soccer Association opposed Jonathan’s Law, citing increased liability insurance and cost of replacing many of the soccer goals currently in use because they were built locally with metal fabricators and/or welders. The state organization expressed concern that the cost would cause some soccer organizations to close.
Opponents of the law, while expressing symphathy for the family, cited the cost of purchasing commercially manufactured goal as a factor in using non-commercial constructed goals.
However, by using goals manufactured by a reputable goal company, the clubs have the benefit of the engineering and design that goes into making the goals, including proper angling for the supportive structures of the goal and weight distribution. Consumers also benefit from buying from companies that are covered by product liability.
Partial Judgement
Just recently a St. Louis jury awarded $40,000 to the parents of a young man who was crushed by a soccer goal in Wilmore Park. Karrar Abudarb was 19-years-old when he was killed in November of 2007.
The son of Iraqi refugees, Abudarb had played soccer for four years at Soldan HS in the St. Louis area, but on that day he was playing a pickup game with some friends on a makeshift soccer field on city property.
He hung from the crossbar and did some pullups, causing the goal to tip over and land on his head. His parents filed a wronful death lawsuit in 2009, asking for a $1.5 million settlement.
Even though that goal did not belong on to the city, and had been placed on a part of the park facility by a group of immigrants, jury awarded $160,000. However, the jury also said that the city was only 75 percent at fault.
They said that Abudarb was 75 percent responsible for his own death and reduced the award by that amount to the final $40,000.
The city had argued that they were not responsible for equipment that others brought into the parks, and said that Abudarb knew the goal was not anchored. He had helped move it prior to the game. He knew the risk and swung from it anyway.
Now that the use of non-commercially manufactured soccer goals is covered by law, those who continue to use locally manufactured goals are involved in accidents will find that liability positions in those cases difficult, and expensive, to defend.
To Anchor Is A No-Brainer
Most state and local soccer associations throughout the U.S. require that goals be securely anchored to the ground. Over the last decade, the awareness of the dangers of unanchored goals has substantially risen.
However, goals in public parks and on school grounds are often not anchored. There is also the problem of coaches moving anchored goals on the field for training, and not replacing the anchors before they leave the facility.
The day after Jonathan Nelson’s death, the Bentonville school district checked its soccer goals and found only six out of 36 goals were anchored.
“I absolutely didn’t expect it to happen this quickly,” said Sarah Nelson, Jonathan’s mom, abut how quickly the soccer goal safety bill was enacted. “It’s something simple, and it took something like the death of our child to make it happen.”
How To Secure The Goals
The practice of having soccer goals built by a club or association at a local welding shop, is not as prevalent as it was years ago. Homemade goals lack the engineering that goes into proper angels of support, balance, weight, etc.
Companies that sell soccer goals, also sell anchoring devices, and when used properly they will secure the goals. Whatever you decide to use must be able to do the job properly and must be able to prevent the goal from moving. Staking must be deep enough and at the proper angel to prevent the spike from being easily pulled out of the ground.
A variety of metal stakes are available, including both U stakes that fit across the bottom foot of the goal in several places with the ends going into the ground in two places. J hook stakes, that wrap over the bottom foot are also available.
The most effective stakes are the auger style that screw into the ground. Unlike a smooth bore stake, the auger gives the anchor some “bite”, making it more difficult to pull out of the ground.
Another simple secure type of anchoring device, which is more of a permanent anchor, is a concrete block which is imbedded into the ground with an eye hook on top imbedded into the concrete. A heavy chain around the back bottom bar is clipped to the eye hook. Goals should be secured on both sides of the back bar.
Among the soccer goal manufacturers, Kwik Goal is one company that has made soccer goal safety an important part of its overall marketing program for soccer goals. Online information is available at www. KWIKGOAL.com/safetyfirst.
Among Kwik Goal’s anchoring offerings are sand-filled saddle bags, as well as information as to where they should be placed on the bottom of the goal and how many are required to secure a goal.
Educate Players And Coaches
Youth and high school coaches must be made aware of the dangers of unsecured soccer goals and the necessity of making sure they are anchored before games and/or training begins. Also, coaches must make sure they are still anchored when the coach leaves the field.
Drive the point home by making your coaches think about how difficult the phone call will be to report a serious injury or death. Make them aware of the liability they have for leaving goals unsecured that result in death or injury.
Portable goals can blow over behind a swift breeze. Full-sized goals can be blown over in a strong wind.
Never let players climb or hang from the crossbars of soccer goals. Once the goal begins to fall, a child will not be able to stop it. Never send your players to move soccer goals on the field.
Offseason Storage
At the end of a soccer season, soccer goals should be broken down and stored in a storage facility. This is absolutely the preferred method of storing as you have removed the goals from sight.
If no storage facility is available, the nets should be removed and the goals should be secured face-to-face and locked with chains. Goals could also be secured facing a chain linked security fence.
It happens on playgrounds and on soccer fields. It happens when adults fail to anchor soccer goals. The intent was not to harm, but tradgically, harm is the result of negligence.
The fact is soccer goals can fall over. There have been times when they have been blown over by a strong gust of wind. They have been pulled over by unsuspecting youngsters hanging from the crossbar or playing on the goal.
The common characteristic of all these incidents, some of which sadly have been fatal, is that the goals are not anchored. They were not secured to the ground.
In some cases they were never anchored, placed on the fields by adults and never checked or supervised. In others, they were moved and never anchored.
Goals are often moved in training sessions by coaches for various reasons. Too often they are not returned to their original location and anchored. The coach, sometimes a professional, sometimes a parent volunteer, is in a hurry to get home or to the next appointment.
Not taking the time to be responsible can have tragic consequences.
In January of 2011 a nine-year old boy was killed in Arkansas when an unanchored soccer goal tipped over and fell on top of him.
Jonathan Nelson, 9, was playing during recess at Elm Tree Elementary School in Bentonville, Arkansas. He and other classmates were playing around a soccer goal.
It tipped over, striking Nelson above his left eye, crushing his skull. Two school nurses were called to the site, and the fourth grader was transported to the medical center in Bentonville. He died at the hospital.
Almost a year later, on Jan. 7, 2012, in Newton Grove, NC, another nine-year old boy, Juan Escalera, was playing around with friends and family at a family gathering when a soccer goal tipped over and struck him on the head. He also died at the hospital.
This time the accident didn’t occur on a playground or on a soccer field. It was in a yard of a private residence.
Do you have a soccer goal in your backyard. Is it anchored? When you drop your kids for practice or for a game, are you sure the goals on the field are safe and anchored?
Zach Tran would be 13 years old today had he lived, but he died at age six when a soccer goal fell and struck him in the head.
Hayden Ellias would have celebrated his 15th birthday this past May, but a soccer goal fell on him during a boys vs. girls soccer game in Northern Virginia five years ago.[show_disconnected][show_to accesslevel=’Subscriber’] He died when he was only 10 years old.
And there is good news and there is bad news.
First the good. Awareness of the dangers of unanchored soccer goals has resulted in mandates from state youth organizations and high school administrations that soccer goals be securely anchored before any games can begin. Game officials are required to check the goals.
Now the bad. Most accidents don’t happen during games, and there are still thousands of goals on fields all across this country that are unanchored at this very minute.
Jonathan’s Law Is Progress
The list is long. Over the past 20 years there have been dozens of deaths by soccer goals. All have not been young children. They have included teenagers and adults. One report lists 35 deaths between 1979 and 2009, along with 56 reported injuries. There have been others since that report was released.
Jonathan’s name also has gone on a legislative bill that fast-tracked through the Arkansas General Assembly, now known as Jonathan’s Law. Arkansas Governor Mike Beebe signed the bill into law on March 31, 2011.
Jonathan’s Law requires all soccer goals at schools and public recreation areas to be anchored and secured on a level surface. It also requires that they be manufactured by a company that makes sports equipment.
There are other states with similar laws.
Pushback From Arkansas State Soccer
At the time of its passing, Arkansas State Soccer Association opposed Jonathan’s Law, citing increased liability insurance and cost of replacing many of the soccer goals currently in use because they were built locally with metal fabricators and/or welders. The state organization expressed concern that the cost would cause some soccer organizations to close.
Opponents of the law, while expressing symphathy for the family, cited the cost of purchasing commercially manufactured goal as a factor in using non-commercial constructed goals.
However, by using goals manufactured by a reputable goal company, the clubs have the benefit of the engineering and design that goes into making the goals, including proper angling for the supportive structures of the goal and weight distribution. Consumers also benefit from buying from companies that are covered by product liability.
Partial Judgement
Just recently a St. Louis jury awarded $40,000 to the parents of a young man who was crushed by a soccer goal in Wilmore Park. Karrar Abudarb was 19-years-old when he was killed in November of 2007.
The son of Iraqi refugees, Abudarb had played soccer for four years at Soldan HS in the St. Louis area, but on that day he was playing a pickup game with some friends on a makeshift soccer field on city property.
He hung from the crossbar and did some pullups, causing the goal to tip over and land on his head. His parents filed a wronful death lawsuit in 2009, asking for a $1.5 million settlement.
Even though that goal did not belong on to the city, and had been placed on a part of the park facility by a group of immigrants, jury awarded $160,000. However, the jury also said that the city was only 75 percent at fault.
They said that Abudarb was 75 percent responsible for his own death and reduced the award by that amount to the final $40,000.
The city had argued that they were not responsible for equipment that others brought into the parks, and said that Abudarb knew the goal was not anchored. He had helped move it prior to the game. He knew the risk and swung from it anyway.
Now that the use of non-commercially manufactured soccer goals is covered by law, those who continue to use locally manufactured goals are involved in accidents will find that liability positions in those cases difficult, and expensive, to defend.
To Anchor Is A No-Brainer
Most state and local soccer associations throughout the U.S. require that goals be securely anchored to the ground. Over the last decade, the awareness of the dangers of unanchored goals has substantially risen.
However, goals in public parks and on school grounds are often not anchored. There is also the problem of coaches moving anchored goals on the field for training, and not replacing the anchors before they leave the facility.
The day after Jonathan Nelson’s death, the Bentonville school district checked its soccer goals and found only six out of 36 goals were anchored.
“I absolutely didn’t expect it to happen this quickly,” said Sarah Nelson, Jonathan’s mom, abut how quickly the soccer goal safety bill was enacted. “It’s something simple, and it took something like the death of our child to make it happen.”
How To Secure The Goals
The practice of having soccer goals built by a club or association at a local welding shop, is not as prevalent as it was years ago. Homemade goals lack the engineering that goes into proper angels of support, balance, weight, etc.
Companies that sell soccer goals, also sell anchoring devices, and when used properly they will secure the goals. Whatever you decide to use must be able to do the job properly and must be able to prevent the goal from moving. Staking must be deep enough and at the proper angel to prevent the spike from being easily pulled out of the ground.
A variety of metal stakes are available, including both U stakes that fit across the bottom foot of the goal in several places with the ends going into the ground in two places. J hook stakes, that wrap over the bottom foot are also available.
The most effective stakes are the auger style that screw into the ground. Unlike a smooth bore stake, the auger gives the anchor some “bite”, making it more difficult to pull out of the ground.
Another simple secure type of anchoring device, which is more of a permanent anchor, is a concrete block which is imbedded into the ground with an eye hook on top imbedded into the concrete. A heavy chain around the back bottom bar is clipped to the eye hook. Goals should be secured on both sides of the back bar.
Among the soccer goal manufacturers, Kwik Goal is one company that has made soccer goal safety an important part of its overall marketing program for soccer goals. Online information is available at www. KWIKGOAL.com/safetyfirst.
Among Kwik Goal’s anchoring offerings are sand-filled saddle bags, as well as information as to where they should be placed on the bottom of the goal and how many are required to secure a goal.
Educate Players And Coaches
Youth and high school coaches must be made aware of the dangers of unsecured soccer goals and the necessity of making sure they are anchored before games and/or training begins. Also, coaches must make sure they are still anchored when the coach leaves the field.
Drive the point home by making your coaches think about how difficult the phone call will be to report a serious injury or death. Make them aware of the liability they have for leaving goals unsecured that result in death or injury.
Portable goals can blow over behind a swift breeze. Full-sized goals can be blown over in a strong wind.
Never let players climb or hang from the crossbars of soccer goals. Once the goal begins to fall, a child will not be able to stop it. Never send your players to move soccer goals on the field.
Offseason Storage
At the end of a soccer season, soccer goals should be broken down and stored in a storage facility. This is absolutely the preferred method of storing as you have removed the goals from sight.
If no storage facility is available, the nets should be removed and the goals should be secured face-to-face and locked with chains. Goals could also be secured facing a chain linked security fence.
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