House amends soccer goal law

The House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee will consider a proposal to approve– but delay implementation of– a bill seeking to prevent injury or death from falling soccer goals.

February 19, 2013; 8:24 AM • by RVANews staff

Update #2 — February 19, 2013; 8:25 AM

By Blake Belden | Capital News Service

The Virginia House of Delegates on Monday passed the Movable Soccer Goal Safety Act with an amendment so that it wouldn’t take effect unless re-enacted by the General Assembly next year.

The House voted 62-38 in favor of the amended version of Senate Bill 933. The bill would require schools, sports leagues, and other organizations to provide education and take other precautions involving movable goals. Also, under the legislation, only tip-resistant soccer goals could be sold, made or distributed in Virginia after July 2014.

The House added an amendment “that the provisions of this act shall not become effective unless re-enacted by the 2014 Session of the General Assembly.”

Another amendment would require the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation and the Division of State Parks to convene a “stakeholder work group” to study the safety concerns associated with moveable soccer goals.

The work group would include representatives of the Virginia Department of Education, the Department of Health, the Virginia Recreation and Park Society, youth and adult soccer associations, referees associations, semi-professional soccer associations, YMCAs, and the Virginia Retail Merchants Association.

The group would “review practices in other states including laws, regulations, policies and protocols that promote safety for players, especially youth; and review the current safety practices associated with moveable goals followed by soccer programs sponsored by schools, public parks and recreation programs and private associations in the Commonwealth.”

After completing its research, the work group would submit its findings and recommendations to the governor and the General Assembly by November.

The amendments come as a result of opposition to the bill. Critics said it would impose unnecessary costs on some sports leagues and have many unintended consequences.

Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (R-Winchester), who sponsored the bill, was amenable to the proposed amendments.

“The legislation is not really meant to impose a burden or financial burden on leagues. It is prospective. It applies going forward,” Vogel said.

The bill comes almost six years after a fatal accident involving a boy from Stephens City, a town in Frederick County, which is in Vogel’s Senate district.

On May 7, 2007, Hayden Ellias, 10, was killed during a soccer scrimmage when a soccer goal fell over on top of him. His parents formed a nonprofit group, Hayden’s Goal, to “prevent injuries and deaths caused by the improper handling and use of soccer goals by increasing public knowledge and awareness about their correct setup and use.”

After being amended by the House, SB933 now returns to the Senate for consideration. It had previously passed the Senate, 33-6, on Jan. 22.

Update #1 — February 13, 2013; 8:08 AM

By Blake Belden | Capital News Service

The House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee will consider a proposal to approve, but delay implementation of, a bill seeking to prevent injury or death from falling soccer goals.

A Health, Welfare and Institutions subcommittee unanimously recommended that Senate Bill 933 be passed with a re-enactment clause. That means that even if the bill wins approval from the Senate, House and Gov. Bob McDonnell this year, the General Assembly must vote on it again in 2014 before it can take effect.

The bill, known as the Movable Soccer Goal Safety Act, would require parks, schools, youth clubs, soccer organizations and any other organization that uses a movable soccer goal to take action to ensure goal safety and prevent accidents.

SB933 also would require that only tip-resistant movable soccer goals could be sold, made or distributed in Virginia after July 1, 2014.

Under amendments added by the subcommittee last week, the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation would organize a stakeholders’ work group to study the issues of movable goals, player safety and referee responsibility. The group would help determine whether legislation should be passed to address such issues.

The subcommittee’s decision comes in response to opponents’ contentions that SB933 would impose unnecessary costs on many sports leagues and have intended consequences.

In testimony before the subcommittee, Eldon James, a board member for the Virginia Recreation and Parks Society, said, “We are fearful that in addressing the youth soccer issue, we’re going to affect a much broader array of programs where we don’t have the same degree of problems.”

Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Winchester, who sponsored the bill, was amenable to the recommendation by the subcommittee.

“The legislation is not really meant to impose a burden or financial burden on leagues. It is prospective. It applies going forward,” Vogel said.

The bill comes almost five years after a fatal accident involving a boy from Stephens City, a town in Frederick County, which is in Vogel’s Senate district.

On May 7, 2007, Hayden Ellias, 10, was killed during a soccer scrimmage when a soccer goal fell over on top of him. His mother, Mary, “is the impetus for the bill,” said Tricia Stiles, Vogel’s legislative assistant.

“Ignorance to the danger [of soccer goals] is still widespread at all levels. Everyone must be educated about the dangers so that they can be empowered to take action when they encounter unsecured goals,” Mary Ellias said in testimony to the House subcommittee.

The Senate voted 33-6 for the bill in January.

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Original — January 28, 2013

By Blake Belden | Capital News Service

A bill that aims to prevent death or injury from falling soccer goals has cleared the Senate and is now being considered by the House.

The Senate voted 33-6 last week to approve Senate Bill 933, known as the Movable Soccer Goal Safety Act. A movable soccer goal is a freestanding structure that consists of at least two upright posts, a crossbar and support bars but no secure form of support or restraint.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Winchester, would require every organization that owns such a goal to:

“…establish a soccer goal safety and education policy that outlines how the organization will address any safety concern related to movable soccer goals, including the dangers of unanchored or improperly anchored soccer goals tipping over and the care that must be taken to ensure proper installation, setup, maintenance, and transportation of movable soccer goals.”

The Senate Education and Health Committee, on a 12-2 vote, had recommended that the full Senate pass the measure.

The bill comes almost five years after a fatal accident involving a boy from Stephens City, a town in Frederick County, which is in Vogel’s Senate district.

Testifying before the Senate Education and Health Committee, Mary Ellias said: “There have been 32 reported deaths resulting from soccer goal tip-overs, most of which occurred at a practice. How do you explain to your children that their brother is dead because a soccer goal was not properly anchored?”

The bill would require parks, schools, youth clubs, soccer organizations and any other organization that uses a movable soccer goal to take action to ensure goal safety and prevent accidents.

SB933 also would require that only tip-resistant movable soccer goals could be sold, made or distributed in Virginia after July 1, 2014.

“Prototypes for the tip-resistant soccer goals are being developed now,” Stiles said.

The bill does not contain a specific penalty; however, legal repercussions will arise for the organizations that fail to comply with the requirements, Stiles said.

Arkansas, Illinois, and Wisconsin are among states that have passed similar laws to promote soccer goal safety.

“The attorney that was assigned to draft [the Movable Soccer Goal Safety Act] did look up the language from other states and did use some of that as a prototype for this,” Stiles said.

After passage by the Senate on Jan. 22, the bill was assigned to the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee. If approved by that committee, it would be voted on by the full House of Delegates.

The Ellias family has established an organization called Hayden’s Goal “to prevent injuries and deaths caused by the improper handling and use of soccer goals by increasing public knowledge and awareness about their correct setup and use.”

“It’s our mission – ‘Hayden’s Goal’ – to spread the word about anchoring goals and using [tip-resistant] goals. Referees, coaches, managers, players and especially parents need to know what they can do to prevent another tragedy like Hayden’s,” Mary Ellias said.

photo by ewiemann