We spent Saturday afternoon doing something I really enjoy, a soccer tournament. I love watching my son play and get so emotional in the game. After the medals were distributed, I witnessed something that made me think "oh no" and reminded me of a blog post I had done in the past. A coach from a lower age group was lifting his players up on top of the soccer goal to take a picture of them.
At first thought, it looks perfectly fine and innocent. What a great picture, right? What a lot of us don't realize is that those goals are actually quite dangerous. If not anchored properly, they can tip over and do at times result in death.
To quote Anchored for Safety, "A gust of wind…a young player…an uneven playing field…In their current design, only 22 pounds of force can bring a 400-pound goal crashing down, injuring – even killing – a player."
Take a moment to educate yourself on the dangers of soccer goals. Then contact your club to make sure they're doing what they can to keep all kids safe on the field, both during games and during practice.
Here's my previous post - Soccer Safety