Goal Safety, Field Setup and Shutdown
It’s
time again to remind everyone about goal safety and responsibility. Some of you may not know that the memorial
plaque and tree between field one and two is dedicated to a TYSA soccer player
who lost his life when a goal at another facility fell on him. We must do everything possible to prevent
that happening at Henderson Park. The
policy of TYSA and DeKalb County Parks & Recreation is that goals must be
anchored to the ground or some other fixed object at all times. If you see an unanchored goal and you are
unable to immediately anchor it by chaining it to the fence or the ground
anchor or by spiking it to the ground, please notify a board member as soon as
possible. Listed below are the field
setup and shutdown procedures:
1.
The
field marshal shall arrive at least 45 minutes prior to the first game of the
day to unlock the goals and set out spikes and flags. The lock must remain in the chain.
2.
The
coach(es) of the first game shall arrive at least 30 minutes before the
scheduled start and place and secure the goals and flags as the first order of
business. On fields H one, H three, H
five, and H six a spike should be dropped through the front holes of ground
plate of the goal into the sleeves set into the ground and the chain affixed to
the goal must be locked into the ground anchor or onto the fence (field
3). Sometimes the ground anchors may be
difficult to find but they are there and must be used. Do not drive the spike into the sleeve with
a hammer. If it won’t drop in easily,
hammer it in through the back hole in the ground plate. On field H two and G one and G two the goals
must be spiked down with a minimum of 2 spikes driven in with a hammer. On field H four, the goals are simply set in
place.
3.
The
field marshal shall check each goal to insure it is properly anchored to the
ground before the start of play. On
fields two and four the field marshal must lock the goal chains to the fence to
prevent their loss.
4.
Near
the end of the last game of the day on a field, the field marshal shall
unlock the goal chains, again leaving the lock in the chain.
5.
The
coach(es), after policing the trash pick up of the bench area(s), shall move
the goals and lock them to a fence post along the touch line to facilitate cross
field use in practice. On field one the goals shall be locked to the ground
anchors along the north touch line. To
facilitate mowing, the lock point should alternate sides, where possible,
weekly. The coach(es) shall return the
flags and spikes used on fields one, two, and three, to the paint shed located
between field one and two. Flags and
spikes for fields four and five shall be returned to the electrical closet in
the concession stand. Flags and spikes
for field six shall be placed in the gray metal box by the bleachers on field
six.
6.
The
field marshal shall check each goal to ensure it is properly located and locked
prior to leaving for the day.
TYSA
has purchased practice goals for use during the week. Several are assembled and chained to the fence. Several more are in the garage, awaiting
volunteers to assemble them. Along with
this memo each u10 & up coach is being given a copy of the key to these
goals. The practice goals are to be
shared among teams using the same field.
If their use becomes widespread, more will be purchased. The game goals are not to be moved from
their locked position for practice.
The
goals at Granite may be moved for practice but must be locked face to face, to
the fence or to a light pole each night.