This happened at MO State Cup in Springfield, where all goals are properly secured and inspected: heavy rain arrived, quite suddenly....plus winds said to be in 80 plus mph range...within minutes most goals were knocked over....it was quite a sight to see more than a dozen goals with the cross bar on the ground! Of course: all players/others had taken cover in safe areas....
July 5 2012 WATSON LAKE, - RCMP and the Yukon Coroners' Service are investigating the death of a five-year-old girl on a high school soccer field after the net tipped over and hit her on the back of the head. Chief Coroner Kirsten MacDonald said the girl was playing soccer with other children in Watson Lake, about 460 kilometres southeast of Whitehorse. The girl died after she was rushed to hospital. The Yukon Department of Education has announced it will conduct its own investigation into the girl's death. The net has been removed from the field and officials are also taking away unfixed soccer nets from Department of Education properties as a precaution. Watson Lake Mayor Richard Durocher said the community is shaken by the incident. "The community is pretty solemn today, it's pretty quiet," Durocher said. "You go around town — I've been to a few places — and I've seen their eyes well up in a couple of situations, it's very tragic." The girl's name has not been released at the request of her family. (CKRW, The Canadian Press)
At the TXN All Referee Clinic on July 21st, all referees were addressed by the president of North Texas Soccer on this very subject. Our instructions were to inspect every goal every match and if not secured do not play. I was glad to see this being emphasized to new 08s and a number of coaches that were present.
Coach: Ref, I've never seen a goal blow over! Me: Coach, you won't see it today either because this game will not be played until the goals are secured. Good to see this as a point of emphasis in TXN since storms can blow up quickly in the flat lands..
Brings back memories of a mens D1 game I did in San Antonio. It was a rain make-up game so had to get the game in. Halfway in the first half the biggest dust storm I have ever seen hits and you literally cannot see from one goal to the other. Best part was the 100 gallon barrels they had for trash cans that started rolling across the field. My AR said he half expected to see a little kid riding inside one. We stopped play until it passed.
Had a tournament this past weekend, no anchors, held up play until fixed. Now we've gotten three reminders in the last two days going into a D1 youth state tournament this weekend. Also told that new rule (or at least now specifically stated) for D1 youth leagues starts this weekend - hanging on the goalpost by anyone is now caution UB. Also told if a player collides with or hangs on the goal we must stop play and recheck the goal.
Not only check goals before EVERY match, but ensure they are at least anchored or counter-weighted. Check out anchoredForSafety.org for more details on laws passed by various states in the US - the Movable Soccer Goal Safety Act, also known as Zach's Law - short and long term solutions to making soccer goals safer, and other relevant details.
At some venues where I work, goals are constantly moved around as fields are reconfigured. Often I will show up for a full field match, and we will wait while the previous half-field matches' goals are moved out of the way, and the full field goals are put in place. Needless to say, we check our field's goals for proper sandbagging. But what about the other goals - the ones that have been moved aside? They're pushed over behind where the spectators sit on one side, and behind the team benches on the other. What is our responsibility for those goals?
I have seen temporary goals next to my fields. I usually check them. If they will fall over with a little effort, I tip them over. I then notify my assignor about the goals. I don't know what more to do.
This is a fair question - from a strict liability POV, it doesn't seem there is a responsibility there as the referee's role is related strictly to the match and its immediate environs for the safety of the players / subs / teams. For goals that have been moved aside, as you described, they would not be your responsibility as attaching that to your role would be similar to you making sure the bleachers are safe for spectators use, etc. Now from an ethical and "let's make sure we don't kill anyone" POV, it is probably a good thing to make sure those goals are either weighted down or tipped over so that they don't create a hazard for spectators during the match. That's my initial thought - any other opinions?
That's pretty much where, after reflection, I came down on it. Having done so, I called it to the attention of several members of the club's hierarchy.
Maybe not our responsibility, but they should be lashed together and locked so they can't tip over. Too many times I've seen goals just laid down and some kids come, pick them up and start doing their thing.
I respectfully disagree. Bubba described extra goals behind player seating areas. If one of those extra goals tips over and smashes a kid on the bench ( or even if the player was warming up behind her bench and got smashed) you would have a hard time avoiding liability. If there was an open manhole beside the players bench you could not ignore that on the grounds that you only are responsible for what's inside the touchlines, could you? I don't see an unsecured goal around players as different. I'm not talking about parent spectator seating. I'm talking about areas were players are. I am a notorious crank about this issue. I coach, I ref, I'm the parent of players and referees, and I used to sit on the board of my AYSO region. In all of those roles I preach that goals MUST be secured. Even after we had a goal blow over in practice narrowly missing the keeper about 2 years ago, I find unsecured goals at our schools, our practices, and our games. I find kids jumping up to hang on the crossbar of a goal. I don't hesitate to use my best command voice across 2 fields to get them off the goal if their coach is ignoring it.
safe goals in VA... http://www.soccerwire.com/blog-post...advances-through-va-senate-committee/?loc=psw
I couldn't see anything to distinguish the ones I've seen from regular goals. What I've done is try to lift the back bar of the goal up and if it doesn't want to budge deem it safe.
Two days ago, HS Varsity Women's game. Check the goals, neither anchored. Tell the home coach we need to do something about getting them anchored. "They're not anchored?" "No, sir." "They were last week." "Well, they're not anchored this week." "Okay, I'll work on it." They were anchored in about 15-20 minutes. Again, "last week" is not "this week."
As the notorious spring winds born in the Rockies begin, I thought I'd bump this as a reminder. I have seen super heavy-duty goals - the sort that haven't been moved in years and appear to be permanently stuck in the grass and sod - blown over and reduced to twisted steel in our spring winds. And yes, they had been anchored with U shaped rebar, wire rope attached to anchors, etc. So if that can happen, anything can happen. Please be careful out there. When those winds blow and you see the goals wobbling in the wind, just suspend your match and see that the players take shelter. Please be that pain in the ass referee who won't compromise on safety.
didn't know if anyone saw this: http://www.totalprosports.com/2013/...ng-a-recent-norwegian-cup-soccer-match-video/