Please follow the instructions below to maximize the safety of our children and volunteers:
- Always store goals facing away towards the fence.
Goals always tip forwards (never backwards), and facing a fence, if placed closely enough to that fence, will prevent the goal from tipping. If placed farther from the fence, it’s less likely to hurt someone. - Always weigh down each goal.
Manufacturers state either four (4) saddle sand bags (weighing 40 lbs each) must be used or four (4) 16” ground screw anchors designed for that purpose. Small net stakes or even long straight stakes WILL NOT secure a goal frame in high winds and/or soggy ground. Test to see if the sand bags or tire will be strong enough from tipping the goal.
According to the group, Anchored for Safety, www.anchoredforsafety.org, there have been 36 deaths and 56 injuries from improperly secured portable soccer goals in the period from 1979 to 2011. Indeed, in 2002, an eight-year-old girl from Rye Brook suffered a crushed femur when a portable goal was blown over in a gust of wind. Fortunately, after several surgeries and months of painful physical therapy she was able to make a full recovery. Others are not so lucky. In January 2012, a 9-year old boy in North Carolina was killed by an unsecured soccer goal that toppled over on to him during a game. Approximately, one child each year is killed by a toppling soccer goal and emergency rooms report between 120-200 serious injuries annually from soccer goal accidents. Most victims are between the ages of four and eight.
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN WEST ISLIP.