Newmarket, Bradford inspect soccer nets after teenager's death

YorkRegion.com
Aug. 1, 2014
Brea Bartholet

Communities across Simcoe and York Region are in shock after the sudden death of 15-year-old Jaime Palm of Newmarket.

The tragedy has garnered international headlines and debate about soccer net safety regulations.

While playing soccer with a friend at the Portuguese Cultural Centre in Bradford West Gwillimbury Wednesday, Palm became trapped under the crossbar of a soccer net on a private field owned by the Portuguese Cultural Centre.

A friend had her back to Palm when the net fell and was unable to remove it due to its heavy weight.

As a result of severe head trauma caused by the accident, Palm died in hospital later that day.

South Simcoe Police said the investigation is now under the direction of the coroner, who is receiving assistance from various South Simcoe Police departments.

Though police have yet to determine an exact cause of death, family and friends of Palm say she had jumped onto the crossbar, causing the moveable net to topple over.

The teenager, recognized as a star athlete, was involved in a variety of high-paced sports including soccer, gymnastics and volleyball.

Fellow peers of Palm describe her as being a well-liked, talented and happy student who attended Bill Crothers Secondary School in Markham.

As mourning for the loss of such a young life continues, the incident has triggered a safety blitz regarding similar equipment across the region.

The Town of Bradford released a statement assuring residents that regular inspections are carried out on all town-owned equipment, but, as precautionary measure, staff swiftly inspected all soccer goal post installations on town-owned fields.

All posts have been confirmed to be in a stable and secure condition.

Newmarket officials followed suit. All fields and equipment within the municipality were reviewed and given a gold standard of safety.

Palm is the third child in Canada to die from such an accident since 2001.

In July 2012, a five-year-old girl died in Watson Lake, Yukon, when a soccer net tipped over on her as her parents stood nearby.

In 2001, a 14-year-old boy was killed when an unsecured soccer net fell on him causing a fatal head wound in Montreal.

In the United States, 30 deaths have been reported since 1979, according to anchoredforsafety.org.

Though the field in which Palm was injured is privately owned, many are asking, once again, if stiffer safety regulations should be mandatory for all soccer field equipment accessible to the the public, regardless of ownership.

Ontario Safety League president Brian Patterson said while there is no official standard set as to how such posts should be stabilized, an anchor for a net such as the one in question would cost no more than $10.

“Newmarket’s practice is best for this type of thing. If you look at their moveable nets, they are anchored to the ground with chains on each side,” he said.

“It should be the priority of parks and recreation, parents or the owner of the property to check the equipment.”

Patterson added that this type of incident is 100 per-cent preventable.

“Kids climb on things, lets face it. There is no way anyone should have nets with no tethers and the excuses are so lame. These are heavy objects and there is no reason for all nets to receive inspection.”

Attempts to contact the Portuguese centre have been unsuccessful.