Each spring season CYS reminds Parents and Players that risks involving moving, climbing on goal posts or attached nets are very real. The soccer goal is so much part of a soccer field that players and siblings don’t recognize the danger. Simply, climbing on goal posts and nets can seriously injure or, in worst cases, kill.

On January 26, 2011, students attending an Arkansas Elementary school were on recess. A group of boys were leaning on an unsecured soccer goal. The goal post flipped striking one of the boys on the head. The injured boy was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital where he died 30 minutes after the accident.

Persons injured by falling off, being struck by goal posts or trapped in a net average between 8 and 10 years old. It only takes 22 pounds of force to topple a full size goal weighing 150 to 200 pounds. Almost all accidents could have been prevented by remembering these important safety rules:

NEVER play around any soccer goal that is set up or stored on a slope or hill

NEVER play around a soccer goal that is not being used on a field

NEVER climb on, or hang from, the framework of a goal regardless where it is

NEVER climb on, or hang from the net installed on a goal

NEVER leave children unsupervised with soccer nets

DO remind your friends it’s NEVER safe to play with, hang from or move soccer goals. If your friends don’t get down, tell an adult

DO practice with a buddy, even if you are just kicking the ball into the net

DO remember that soccer goals and nets are not playground equipment

Parents, if your child is playing on a goal, educate them. Players, if you see someone playing on a goal down at the soccer fields or at school, ask them to stop and if they don’t, inform the proper official. Be responsible, be safe and prevent a trip to the hospital or worse.