Videos outline soccer goal dangers
Three public service announcement videos to educate the public about the danger of unsecured soccer goals have been released by the Chicago law firm Corboy and Demetrio.
The videos, made for television and the Internet, were released in partnership with Anchored for Safety, a nonprofit group started by the family of 6-year old Zachary Tran of Vernon Hills, who died in 2003 when an unsecured soccer goal fell on him.
”Eight years ago, the worst nightmare of every parent happened to us when we lost our son, Zack, from an unanchored soccer goal tipping over,” Michelle and Jayson Tran said.
With fall soccer season under way, the videos are intended as part of a broader soccer goal safety campaign, Make Soccer Safe.
Zachary’s parents had no idea the goals were dangerous. And they are far from alone.
“It has been our mission since then to make people aware of this potential danger in our parks and on our school yards,” Michelle and Jayson Tran said.
The Tran family founded Anchored for Safety a nonprofit organization to help educate parents, schools, park districts and children about the danger of movable soccer goals.
One of the PSAs is a five-minute video for the Internet, which tells the story of Zachary Tran’s death but also the story of “Zach’s Law,” Illinois’ Movable Soccer Goal Safety Act enacted in August. The PSA warns that despite the law, deadly goals remain on thousands of fields in Illinois and across the nation. The video features interviews with Zachary’s parents and Zach’s sister, Alli.
Corboy & Demetrio partner Shawn Kasserman is also featured in the PSA. He secured a $3 million settlement for the Tran family in their lawsuit against the park district, soccer associations and goal maker and worked with them to help get “Zach’s Law” passed.
Zachary’s aunt, Karen Endres, who was instrumental in getting a soccer goal safety act passed in Wisconsin earlier this year, is also featured in a PSA for Wisconsin TV stations.
The law firm will distribute the PSAs to schools, park districts, soccer groups and safety organizations. Also, the Illinois law firm will help Anchored for Safety distribute the video to members of the U.S. Senate with the hope of sparking interest in federal legislation.
Anchored for Safety is intended to prevent any more deaths from unsecured movable soccer goals. Anchoredforsafety.org is an effort to provide information, including legislative updates on soccer goal safety laws; statistics on deaths and injuries; resources for children, parents, coaches and park districts for implementing movable soccer goal safety plans; and instructions about how to properly secure goals.