Sorry, Subtard. I actually don't think this is hyped enough. They really are pretty dangerous and aren't usually anchored because they play on temporary fields.

Nothing new there. I had a goal collapse and hit me in the head when I was Sophomore in high school. I thought the coach was going shiat a brick.

Not to mention the special ones that just run straight in to the side posts.

Yet another reason to stop playing soccer.

Has anybody mentioned that they should anchor them to the ground?

ahem, football. *ducks*

The primary role of officials in any sport is participant safety.

Soccer officials (referees, assistant referees, et al) do not permit a game to be played when the goals are not anchored (ref current Soccer Law Book: Law 2: Safety: Goals must be anchored securely to the ground. Portable goals may only be used if they satisfy this requirement.)

However, this does not prevent the hazard posed at practices or kickabouts.

Um; am I the only one who thinks that the parents who allow their children to play with/on unsecured goals are the problem? I agree that unsecured goals are dangerous; but, it seems if the parents put in the effort, their children wouldn't play with/on the goals.

/ I know, I know; what about having multiple kids? Maybe, if they all are running off; you should not take all of them at once. Leave some with grandma or something.

God forbid people be concerned about something that has actually killed kids, eh subby?

Sure, cause we're banning cars for killing hundreds or even thousands of kids PER YEAR rather than per 3 decades....

/illusion of safety

I'm glad that the government is taking steps on this. I mean, really, before something is done, how many hundreds of children every year is okay for to die?

Only fair that the soccer-boogers have a hazard. How many fat kids have been killed by falling vending machines?

I was thinking actual attempts to score? I was thinking if I wanted to watch brain dead retards run around and not shooting on net, I'd watch the English premier league

Just weight the things. Yeah, they're heavy, yeah they hurt when they hit you.


They're also not for climbing on, sitting on, or hanging from. Just by looking at one, you can go "oh, hey, I bet I'd tip that over." If you're old enough to reach the top bar, you should be smart enough to realize what's going to happen. Still, it's an easy fix and they should be secured. Still not any of the local government's problem unless they're the ones providing the equipment.

More than 100 kids died in three decades from wombat bites.

The "solution" is locking the goals to fences during all non sanctioned events, which ensures no pickup games with friends, helping our nations children get just a tad fatter.

Gallagher to use a soccer goal in his next show.

When I was about 8, I was playing goalie and got my head stuck in the net. They had to stop the game and cut the net to free me.

Reminds me of when kids were tipping over dumpsters and getting squashed.

When something that is specifically designed to be a child's plaything is regularly killing and maiming, it is worth both addressing the danger and raising awareness.

A strong wind can also cause a goal to fall over. Our AYSO Region uses canvas bags filled with sand to secure our goals. I've also seen screw in anchors and even 5 gallon paint buckets filled with sand attached to 2x4s to secure goals, so it's not a difficult problem. Yes it's a pain in the ass to have to unsecure the goals to mow the grass, but it sure beats having a kid squished by a goal.

Sorry but this just sounds ridiculous to me, how the hell can anyone get KILLED by a goal falling on them ffs? I come from a country where we play a lot more football/soccer than in the US and I've never heard of these "dangers" ever until I just read this article.

Can they not just get a couple of pegs and hammer them in the ground to keep the goal in place? Also there's no need to have netting, just two posts and a crossbar will do. Hell, most of the football I played as a youngster we just used cones or coats/bags to mark out the goals, it's really not complicated.

iheartscotch: Um; am I the only one who thinks that the parents who allow their children to play with/on unsecured goals are the problem?

Yeah, pretty much.
Do you closely inspect each and every item of equipment that your kid might play on or near?

Are you qualified to perform those inspections?

/if you DO inspect each and every thing your kid gets near, your kid doesn't get out enough
//if the goals are out there, they should be secured, sanctioned games or not

What about fences?

They are everywhere. Kids fall off them all the time. I say we end this scourge of fences.

They are everywhere. Kids fall off them all the time. I say we end this scourge of fences.

The foolproof way to prevent kids from dying is to ban kids

juvandy: They are everywhere. Kids fall off them all the time. I say we end this scourge of fences.

The foolproof way to prevent kids from dying is to ban kids

Let's just ban death. Anyone found dead should be fined.

Kazan: this isn't exactly rocket science here.. but it doesn't require ridicule for pointing out "you should anchor these, they're heavy and can tip"

It's not pointing it out that requires ridicule it's the fuss that these parents and news are throwing over something that is solved by telling your kids "that's dangerous, knock it off" or putting some cinder blocks on the back.

38 deaths in the last 30 years across the entire US. That's 1 in 63 million chance of your child being killed by a soccer goal in any given year, 1 in 3.6 million chance of them being killed throughout their entire childhood. You're orders of magnitude more likely to be killed by bees or struck by lightning than die in a freak soccer goal related accident. The odds of kids choking to death on a hotdog are 1 in 181,230 so why aren't parents demanding action against hotdogs?

/I think my numbers are right.
//Of all the things to crusade against they picked soccer goals?

Showers kill more kids every year. Why do we still let children take showers? ... because they'd smell, I guess. Never mind.

One coach said he didn't utilize the provided sandbags unless the goals were "in-use," although on the night 10 News visited, the kids on his team were swinging from the nets of the unanchored goal.

*facepalm*

I actually have no problem with a law requiring the goals to be anchored but parents and coaches also have a duty to 1) pay attention to their damn kids and 2) teach them to respect the damn equipment.

Let's just ban death. Anyone found dead should be fined.

We could solve the national debt of every country in the world with that strategy!

Lionel Mandrake: God forbid people be concerned about something that has actually killed kids, eh subby?

Swimming pools and bathrooms kill kids.

Jument: Showers kill more kids every year. Why do we still let children take showers? ... because they'd smell, I guess. Never mind.

Yeah, but dead kids smell worse than unshowered ones. So maybe we should outlaw showering after all.

I coach youth soccer. One of my players was taking his first turn in goal during our last game, and discovered a very important safety rule that must be obeyed at all times. Never, ever block a shot on goal with your unprotected balls. It will cause a delay of game while you roll around on the ground trying to find your breath. And all the other players who have taken a knee for the injury will stare at you as you duck walk, hands on junk, off the field to your mom while trying really hard not to cry. They're your friends, though, so they mostly won't laugh.

Poor little guy. It was a great block.

While it is a problem and certainly something needs to be done, I'd like to point out that it wasn't even parents who brought up this issue. It was the TV station.

Eight months after the 10 News Investigators brought dangerous soccer goals to the attention of local cities and counties,

So it's more likely that coaches and parents ARE anchoring down the damn things most of the time, because 100 deaths in 30 years, while bad, isn't exactly a nightly massacre of young soccer players being killed by collapsing goal posts. This is more like the crusading journalists went looking for an issue to promote, found something that occasionally kills a few soccer players, and made it into their personal holy crusade. Which also explains why it's not being taken as seriously as it otherwise might be: Because the people actually out there playing soccer are less concerned about it than they are about things like gopher holes or sprinkler heads in the grass, or dehydration among players.

MisterTweak: Not just a few, over 100.

I'd argue that those were all dumb kids. We shouldn't get in the way of Darwin doing his job.

To The Escape Zeppelin!: Kazan: this isn't exactly rocket science here.. but it doesn't require ridicule for pointing out "you should anchor these, they're heavy and can tip"

It's not pointing it out that requires ridicule it's the fuss that these parents and news are throwing over something that is solved by telling your kids "that's dangerous, knock it off" or putting some cinder blocks on the back.

38 deaths in the last 30 years across the entire US. That's 1 in 63 million chance of your child being killed by a soccer goal in any given year, 1 in 3.6 million chance of them being killed throughout their entire childhood. You're orders of magnitude more likely to be killed by bees or struck by lightning than die in a freak soccer goal related accident. The odds of kids choking to death on a hotdog are 1 in 181,230 so why aren't parents demanding action against hotdogs?

/I think my numbers are right.
//Of all the things to crusade against they picked soccer goals?

Imagine the odds of being a goalie eating a hotdog during a thunderstorm under a goal with a beehive. Wow! Guess that kid is not long for this world.

namegoeshere: I coach youth soccer. One of my players was taking his first turn in goal during our last game, and discovered a very important safety rule that must be obeyed at all times. Never, ever block a shot on goal with your unprotected balls. It will cause a delay of game while you roll around on the ground trying to find your breath. And all the other players who have taken a knee for the injury will stare at you as you duck walk, hands on junk, off the field to your mom while trying really hard not to cry. They're your friends, though, so they mostly won't laugh.

Poor little guy. It was a great block.

Friend of mine played soccer when he was in high school with one of the local club teams. Told me about the time he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and took a screamer straight off the right foot of the other team's star forward. Dude had a running start when he took that shot. Anyway, he ended up taking it square in the pills; the shot ruptured one of his testicles and he had to get a prosthesis implanted so he'd be, um, symmetrical.

Robo Beat: namegoeshere: I coach youth soccer. One of my players was taking his first turn in goal during our last game, and discovered a very important safety rule that must be obeyed at all times. Never, ever block a shot on goal with your unprotected balls. It will cause a delay of game while you roll around on the ground trying to find your breath. And all the other players who have taken a knee for the injury will stare at you as you duck walk, hands on junk, off the field to your mom while trying really hard not to cry. They're your friends, though, so they mostly won't laugh.

Poor little guy. It was a great block.

Friend of mine played soccer when he was in high school with one of the local club teams. Told me about the time he was in the wrong place at the wrong time and took a screamer straight off the right foot of the other team's star forward. Dude had a running start when he took that shot. Anyway, he ended up taking it square in the pills; the shot ruptured one of his testicles and he had to get a prosthesis implanted so he'd be, um, symmetrical.

Okay, I don't even have balls and mine are crawled right up in my belly now. Because oh my god.