Illinois Enacts Soccer Goal Safety Law
Mom wins, makes soccer goals safer; Quinn signs bill to prevent danger that killed her son
Moments after Gov. Pat Quinn signed legislation Tuesday aimed at preventing movable soccer goals from tipping over and causing death or injury, an emotional Michelle Tran, the mother of a Vernon Hills boy killed eight years ago by a falling goal, pulled him aside to offer a final thanks.
Quinn put an arm around her shoulder, praising the Tran family for its dedication in turning a tragedy into “an educational mission.”
“I think that the tragedy that occurred was a wake-up call that we have to protect our children and make sure there’s safety in recreational activities,” Quinn said.
He said the Trans provided an example of what happens when “thoughtful, committed people band together, not for profit, but for a cause they believe in.”
In October 2003, 6-year-old Zach Tran died of head injuries suffered when a 186-pound soccer goal toppled and struck him from behind while he was practicing with his greater Libertyville Soccer Association team.
A lawsuit against the association claimed the goal was not anchored ground by stakes and had no counterbalance.
The Tran family formed Anchored for Safety, a nonprofit that promoties soccer-goal safety and pushing for legislation requiring goals to be properly secured and monitored. The group’s Web site, anchoredforsafety.org, lists 36 deaths and 56 injuries related to movable soccer goals in the U.S. between 1979 and 2011.
Zach Tran’s death was one of four incidents in Illinois, including a 1998 accident that left a 9-year-old Deerfield boy with serious facial injuries.
At the bill-signing ceremony in Waukegan, Michelle Tran said that since the “tragic and very preventable accident” that took her son, nine more deaths have been attributed to toppling soccer goals, including one just last week. “We must anchor them and check them and make sure they stay anchored,” she said.
The Movable Soccer Goal Safety Act, known as Zach’s Law, requires “any organization that sets up, moves, or stores a movable soccer goal to follow all applicable guidelines for anchoring, securing, and counterweighting the goal,” as detailed by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
In addition, starting in August 2012, the measure will ban the manufacture or sale of movable soccer goals that are not tip-resistant.
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Chicago Sun-Times
August 3, 2011 Wednesday
DAN MORAN. Sun-Times Media. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
