MYSA Soccer Goal Safety

1
MYSA Soccer Goal Safety

• Does your clubs risk management program address
  soccer goal safety?
• Should it?

2
Portable Goals Are Dangerous

• Over 80 catastrophic injuries reported to the
  Consumer Product Safety Commission
• Including 30 deaths
• 3 deaths in the last year
• No deaths were during a game
• None involved adults
• All were avoidable

3
What happened?

• All resulted from the portable goals tipping
  over.
• Reasons
• Wind blew the goal over
• Horseplay
• Moving the goals

4
Easy Solutions

• ANCHOR THE GOALS
• Permanent installation
• Auger style screws
• Chained or cables
• Inspect on a regular basis
• Pregame by coaches and referees
• Regular inspections by club officials

5
Easy solutions (continued)

• Do not allow horseplay
• No chin-ups during practices or games
• No playing on the goals as if they are playground
  equipment such as balance beams or cargo nets
• No feats of strength

6
Easy Solutions (continued)

• Do not allow players to move
• Educate coaches and parents
• Work with the park and rec departments or schools
• Do not use homemade portable goals
• Do not make modifications of manufactured goals
  with talking to the manufacturer

7
Hidden Dangers

• Hooks or nails to hold the nets on the goals
• Climbing on the posts and crossbar to
  place/remove the nets from the goals
• Self repaired standards
• Uneven ground
• Non-game or practice times

8
Checking the Goals

• Who is responsible?
• Clubs
• Goal safety will be incorporated into the clubs
  risk management program
• Inspection checklist and certification is being
  drafted
• Annual certification
• Fines? Cheaper then premium increases
• Periodic inspections of the goals, nets and
  anchors will be required

9
Who Is Responsible?

• Clubs (continued)
• Education
• Board members need to know risks
• Coaches to be informed of their responsibilities
• Parents need to be warned of the dangers and
  their responsibility to supervise
• Players need to be informed that horseplay or
  climbing on the goals will not be tolerated

10
Who is responsible?

• Coaches
• Need to inspect goals prior to scheduled games
  and practices
• Need to provide adequate supervision during games
  and practices to prevent horseplay
• Report unsafe conditions and not allow game or
  practice if the goals are unsafe

11
Who is responsible?

• Coaches (continued)
• Checklist also being prepared for coaches
• Add to game report that goals have been
  inspected?
• Sanctions possible
• Illinois has started a program where coaches are
  fined 200.00 personally and suspended for 1 year
  for playing or practicing with unanchored goals

12
Who is responsible?

• Referees will receive instructions during
  certification or recertification classes to make
  sure the goals are anchored and to warn players
  to avoid horseplay or inappropriate use of the
  goals.

13
Who is Responsible?

• Parents and spectators
• Need to make sure non-playing children are not
  using unused goals as playground equipment
• Non-playing children are not attempting to lift
  or move goals
• Take responsibility to tell anyone using the
  goals inappropriately to stop

14
Everybody, Somebody, Nobody and Anybody

• Once upon a time there were four people named
  Everybody, Somebody, Nobody and Anybody.
• Whenever there was an important job to do,
  Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it.
• Anybody could have but Nobody did.

15

• When Nobody did it, Somebody got angry because it
  was Everybodys job.
• Everybody thought Somebody would do it and Nobody
  realized Anybody could but didnt.
• So consequently, Everybody blamed Somebody when
  Nobody did what Anybody could have done in the
  first place.

16

• DONT LET THE NEXT KILLED OR INJURED CHILD BE
  OUR REMINDER THAT NONE OF US ANCHORED OR CHECKED
  THE GOALS.
• ANY ONE OF US CAN DO IT.

17
Further Information

• Feel free to contact me for further information
  or with suggestions
• at the MYSA office
• Mysavpad_at_mnyouthsoccer
• On my soccerline 651-451-3950