BENTONVILLE — Money and safety concerns are driving city officials in Bentonville and Rogers to request changes to a bill that would regulate soccer goals.
House Bill 1810 will require soccer goals to be placed on a level surface, to be anchored and to be manufactured by a company that makes sports equipment. The bill would cover soccer goals in publicly and privately owned "public recreation areas," including parks, sports fields and auditoriums.
The bill is named Jonathan's Act after Jonathan Nelson, a fourth-grade student who died in January after a soccer goal tipped over and hit him in the head at Elm Tree Elementary School in Bentonville.
Rogers and Bentonville city officials expressed support of the bill, as long as a few changes are made.
Nathan Nelson, Jonathan's father, said those officials are becoming part of the problem as the bill moves into the Senate for final approval before going to Gov. Mike Beebe's office to be signed into law. The Arkansas House of Representatives passed the law Friday.
Jonathan's Act "is getting slowed down now. I don't know what is going to happen to it now because all these people are part of the problem and not the solution," Nelson said Monday.
The problem is unanchored, unregulated and uninspected soccer goals like the one that killed Jonathan. The solution is the bill before the legislature that would make soccer goals statewide safer, Nelson said.
While he is "sensitive" to the Nelson family's loss, the problem with the bill comes from a business perspective, said Barney Hayes, Rogers Parks director.
"No one in our profession would want something out there that could potentially hurt a child, but it is important to be unemotional when we make these decisions," Hayes said.
Hayes said replacing the homemade goals Rogers uses with ones manufactured by a sports equipment company would cost the city more than $200,000.
"We don't have the budgeted funds to make that kind of purchase," Hayes said.
That angers Nelson. "They're making this all about the money," he said.
There are around 100 soccer goals in Rogers that would need to be replaced. All of them were made at a local machine shop, Hayes said.
Rogers will likely have to shut down its soccer programs until the city can purchase new goals if the bill is passed into law, Hayes said.
One solution is to grandfather in the existing soccer goals for a period of time until new goals can be purchased, Hayes said, noting there should be a requirement to inspect and properly anchor the goals.
Hayes said he wrote a letter or an e-mail expressing his concerns to Rick Stocker, director of the Rogers Recreation Department. Hayes could not provide a copy of the letter or e-mail when asked.
Stocker later e-mailed Rep. Donna Hutchinson, R-Bella Vista. In it, he asks Hutchinson "slow this bill down" and to seek input from school district athletic directors and park professionals.
Stocker also asks Hutchinson to strike language from the bill requiring the purchase of new goals.
"Unless the legislature intends to make millions available to assist us in purchasing new equipment, I would urge you to oppose the mandatory purchase of new equipment," Stocker wrote to Hutchinson.
David Wright, Bentonville's director of Parks and Recreation, said he has no problem asking the City Council to purchase new goals if the law passes. His primary concern is ensuring Jonathan's Act results in having the safest soccer goals possible.
"I have some concerns about the term homemade," Wright said.
The city of Bentonville owns 46 soccer goals, 34 of which were made at a local machine shop. The remainder were purchased from sports equipment manufacturers, Wright said.
Jonathan's Act classifies all soccer goals that are not constructed by a sports equipment manufacturer as homemade. Those soccer goals would be banned under the bill.
"Memorial Park's goals under the bill are considered homemade, but they are built within the (Consumer Product Safety Commission) standards," Wright said.
Replacing Bentonville's soccer goals with those recommended by the bill would result in less-safe soccer goals, Wright said.
Soccer goals used by the city now have three safety measures to prevent them from tipping over. The bottom rail that sits on the ground is counterweighted, making it heavier than the top of the goal and harder to tip over. All of the goals are anchored using auger-style stakes, and the anchors themselves are reinforced with long rods of rebar drilled into the ground, Wright said.
The goals recommended by Jonathan's Act, according to Wright, only require one stake to anchor them.
Under the bill, permanent metal goals, such as those used in competitive matches, would have to be anchored in concrete. Movable goals, usually smaller and lighter than permanent goals, would have to be anchored according to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission guidelines, according to Hutchinson.
"My fear is because the word homemade is used and because you have to buy (goals) from that specific manufacturer, we are actually making our goals less safe," Wright said.
Hayes shared Wright's concern.
"We have a problem with potentially outlawing goals that are safer than we can buy in the open market," Hayes said.
Nelson disagrees with Hayes and Wright.
Requiring schools and parks to purchase soccer goals from companies that manufacture sporting equipment will hold someone accountable should another goal hurt a child, Nelson said.
"If these cities are allowed to manufacture their own goals, then who is held accountable?" Nelson asked. "Cities aren't in the business of keeping track of all of the laws and changes with the goals, so who makes sure the goals stay safe?"
Hutchinson said Jonathan's Act is written the way it is to hold someone responsible in the event of a tragedy.
"That is why this tragedy (Jonathan's death) happened. No one was responsible," Hutchinson said.
Jonathan's Act requires goals to be purchased from a company that manufactures sports equipment so that the company is responsible, Hutchinson said.
The manufacturer sets guidelines on how a goal is to be used and how it is to be assembled. The manufacturer also accepts responsibility if something goes wrong, Hutchinson said.
Wright wrote a letter to Senator Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, on Monday detailing his concerns and his suggestions for changing Jonathan's Act.
Bledsoe is sponsoring the bill in the Arkansas Senate.
The letter asks Bledsoe to amend the law to say all soccer goals should meet design and construction guidelines established by the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Wright also asks Bledsoe to change the law so it will not prohibit homemade soccer goals like those used in Memorial Park.
The changes Wright is proposing to Jonathan's Act simply aren't good enough, Nelson said.
"They won't button (the bill) up enough to ensure every child is kept safe," Nelson said.
Phone messages left with Bledsoe's office in Little Rock and on her cell phone were not returned Monday.