Kids football coming onto driveway

beertons

Forget about the no football sign. Ask the council/residents association to plant flowers. Big ones, little ones, all around the perimeter. And for a nice round flower bed in the middle.

Suddenly, not so attractive for a football match.

I had the same problem years ago living in the UK - and you're not overreacting at all OP. The stress and tension every evening just waiting for the ball to thump the front windows or the car....I remember it all too well. I couldn't reason with the kids....that's what their parents are meant to be for right?

In the end I sold my house and moved. The location of the house on the street meant it would always be the zone of choice for the amateur footie superstars and I was becoming really stressed about the whole thing (and the gradually deteriorating relations with their parents - my neighbours). Is there a residents association on the estate at all?

Wabbit Ears

being nice wont solve the problem but becoming 'That' naighbour will, though I suspect that ships already said and OP is well on their way to being 'that' neighbour. she just needs to up the game to full on cat-woman crazy.

That said, If, should the Op ever finds herself in the situation where she has kids of that age herself this would be one of those shower moments when you look back on things you did earlier in your life and pure mortification sets in at the realisation that you were, in fact, 'that' neighbour.

Sunny Dayz

Seeing as you own your own house, then put a small hedge or fence around your property - it doesn't have to be high, even knee height will keep many stray balls out of the yard.


I'm surprised no one here has mentioned talking to the Residents Association if you have one. Maybe suggest to them a bit of a whip around in the estate and for them to lobby the council to supply more permanent goal posts on the green which would take the problem away from your house.


Is the green that they're not using far away or right beside where they play? I know in our estate, my son and his friends would play football, ride bikes etc in the cul de sac outside our houses rather than over in the green as the green was the far side of the estate and out of view from our houses.


I know it's causing you stress but TBH they could be doing a hell of a lot worse. It's good to see that they are mixing and playing sport, rather than each in their own houses playing the xbox. Your child is going to be one of those kids in a few years time. Lastly, if kids outside making noise is causing you stress and anxiety, I would strongly suggest you speak with your gp and seek medical advise.

MrsSBG

Deleted User wrote: »

I had the same problem years ago living in the UK - and you're not overreacting at all OP. The stress and tension every evening just waiting for the ball to thump the front windows or the car....I remember it all too well. I couldn't reason with the kids....that's what their parents are meant to be for right?

In the end I sold my house and moved. The location of the house on the street meant it would always be the zone of choice for the amateur footie superstars and I was becoming really stressed about the whole thing (and the gradually deteriorating relations with their parents - my neighbours). Is there a residents association on the estate at all?

Hi Bootsy

If I was renting I would seriously be moving but we own and love our house and really don't want to have to sell up over this. I really cannot understand why the neighbours are over reacting we simply want them to move the goals to the other side of the green, we are not 'banning' them from playing.

I've spoken to the residents association before and they said they can't do anything, that they don't get involved in those things! :mad:

ThisRegard

Sunny Dayz wrote: »

to lobby the council to supply more permanent goal posts on the green which would take the problem away from your house.

Which would then turn the green to a destination for anyone in the general area who wants to have a kick about, any time of the year.

OP, I think you're fretting over something that may happen, rather than what has happened, you're thinking of the worse outcome for a ball coming into the garden when in fact out of all the times it has come into the garden, accidentally it appears, nothing has happened.

Dravokivich

ThisRegard wrote: »

Which would then turn the green to a destination for anyone in the general area who wants to have a kick about, any time of the year.

OP, I think you're fretting over something that may happen, rather than what has happened, you're thinking of the worse outcome for a ball coming into the garden when in fact out of all the times it has come into the garden, accidentally it appears, nothing has happened.

Accidental is one thing the odd time, but the goal seems to be in line with the op's garden, so accidental will be very frequent. Every time a shot misses.

_Kaiser_

Unfortunately OP I don't think there's much you can do except install gates. The neighbours don't care, the residents association don't care (it's probably some of their kids that's involved), the Council don't care (kids being kids) and the Gardai certainly don't care

The more they see it bothering you, the more they'll keep it up and the worse it will get. Sad truth is far too many "parents" nowadays either think it's the school's job to raise their kids, or are far more concerned with being their "little angel's" friend rather than parent :rolleyes:

ELM327

Install gates, build a small fence, plant trees/hedge. these are the best solutions IMO.
I would not hold up much hope for reasoning with parents.

PS I understand where you are coming from with the anxiety/stress. I would suffer from similar in your situation.

mrsgiller

To be honest I think you are stressing yourself un-necessarily over this. They are kids they play outside their own home, not much you can do to stop them. The football is probably only a light plastic one (a wind blower) and is not going to damage your car or break your window. As for them suing if they get injured on your driveway.....seriously you are over thinking this. The kids in my estate play football constantly outside my house and while they can be noisy at times, I just leave them to it. Another month and it will be cold and dark by 4 pm. Try to stop stressing over this and enjoy your pregnancy.

ELM327

mrsgiller wrote: »

To be honest I think you are stressing yourself un-necessarily over this. They are kids they play outside their own home, not much you can do to stop them. The football is probably only a light plastic one (a wind blower) and is not going to damage your car or break your window. As for them suing if they get injured on your driveway.....seriously you are over thinking this. The kids in my estate play football constantly outside my house and while they can be noisy at times, I just leave them to it. Another month and it will be cold and dark by 4 pm. Try to stop stressing over this and enjoy your pregnancy.

It's not always that simple.
People who suffer from anxiety can't just "stop stressing", same as someone with MS or cancer can't just "walk it off".

I can empathise with the OP, these things can be very stressful and it would be much more productive to put energy into blocking the football rather than pretending everything is fine.

my3cents

If the neighbors put the goalposts there then aren't they responsible if a ball does damage to the OP's property?

tevey08

Hi OP sorry to hear you're having issues with the brats. Taking the aggressive and angry neighbor is defo not the route to go. I remember when we were kids, we used to play football outside our houses in an estate and there was this one neighbor that was horrible(So we thought he was anyway being kids). He used to keep our ball if it went into the garden or stick a knife in it and chase us. It only made things worse as the kids would pester him and nobody in the estate liked him including all the adults who were on the kids side.

However, recently my mam went through an awful time with kids. Similar situation to yours, started out with minor things and then they would give grief and they eventually tried to set my mothers car on fire, putting plastic bottles under the tires of the car and burning them. They were horrible and had my mother uncomfortable for months on end. Her and here partner getting angry at them was the worse thing they could do.

I don't really know the best approach but I think maybe paying them to clean your garden or clean the car and do chores for you to make them feel like your friends would work for you.

MrsSBG

my3cents wrote: »

If the neighbors put the goalposts there then aren't they responsible if a ball does damage to the OP's property?

That's exactly my thinking but I am not sure of the legality of it. I said it to the father last night three times 'Whose going to pay if they damage my property?' and his condescending response three times 'Have they actually damaged anything?' :mad:

ginger_hammer

I have a kid out the back of my place who's garden is tiny (like 4x4m) and joins onto ours, and he loves to BANG play kicking the ball against the fence throughout the BANG day - it makes BANG having a conversation or even BANG watching the TV a highly annoying BANG thing and yes it stresses me out too. Especially as there is a huge park with BANG goalposts and pitches just a stones throw away.
In the beginning I would always give the balls back but after a couple years of balls flying over I stopped that and starting collecting them, sometimes 4 in a single day flying over the fence hitting our sitting room window/shed - I have now thrown in the trash over 15 footballs and the problem has gone!
I can really sympathize with the daily torment for the OP, and somehow getting rid of the problem without making your property a target to anti-social behavior. Somehow making the other larger green area a more attractive place for games would seem the thing to do and dialog with the council would be my suggestion.

ThisRegard

tevey08 wrote: »

Hi OP sorry to hear you're having issues with the brats.

Where's the mentality coming from that the kids are brats? They are not doing anything vindictive or spiteful, they're simply playing in a public green.

tevey08

ThisRegard wrote: »

Where's the mentality coming from that the kids are brats? They are doing anything vindictive or spiteful, they're simply playing in a public green.

Intentionally placing a goal and kicking a ball into another person property and hitting their cars and windows and the person 6 months pregnant. They're brats.

SusieBlue

It sounds like the child is playing in front of his own house as much as he is playing in front of yours. I don't think its targeted at you, it seems the person who owns the goalposts wants to keep them near his own house (understandable) so that happens to be where the other children congregate.

As others have said, winter is coming and most of the schools are back now, so before long they'll be cooped up for a few months because it will be too cold to play outside.

I understand your position, I see you say you are upset about having the nursery at the front of the house because the noise of the kids "shrieking" will wake the baby..Frankly, the children live on the estate too and its their right to play outside their homes. And also consider the fact that in a couple of years your child will be one of those kids and you might be looking at this from another perspective.

We had a neighbour who was constantly moaning growing up and we used to dread her. I remember one Christmas it snowed, and all the children were outside playing in the snow and she came tearing out saying not to touch the snow outside her driveway and to move. No joke.

In a couple of months, your baby will be here and at some point will probably scream the house down for a couple of hours. Do you want your neighbours banging on your door telling you to shut the baby up when that happens?
Its give and take. Live and let live. In a couple of years your own child will be playing out there too. Don't be that neighbour.

SusieBlue

tevey08 wrote: »

Intentionally placing a goal and kicking a ball into another person property and hitting their cars and windows and the person 6 months pregnant. They're brats.

The goal is also outside the home of the owner of the goalposts. The houses just happen to be very close to each other because its an estate. The OP's house in particular doesn't appear to have been chosen or targeted on purpose. :rolleyes:
Its just in close proximity to both the neighbours house and the patch of grass the kids play on.

Cushie Butterfield

According to the OP no damage has actually been done to the property or car, & it's a case of 'what if's'. Constantly worrying about a situation that may or may not ever happen, combined with posting here & who knows how many other forums will only result in her being more wound up than she was to begin with.

This is more of an anxiety issue than anything else IMO, & would probably be better addressed by a visit to her GP especially considering the fact that she's currently pregnant.

Trond

tevey08 wrote: »

Intentionally placing a goal and kicking a ball into another person property and hitting their cars and windows and the person 6 months pregnant. They're brats.

:eek: jaysus

tevey08

Just for reference brats is used mildly not in an aggressive or bad manor. Kids will be kids but the kids should have more respect for a pregnant woman and their parents should make sure they've respect for others especially women.

Maybe fencing off your garden might do the job. Your husband could go to woodies and fence it off for relatively cheap.

twiddletwaddle

I presume there is no net on the goal posts, could one be added or could you put up some netting on the edge of the green behind the goal, a couple of posts and some nylon garden netting or such like.

_Kaiser_

WhiteRoses wrote: »

The goal is also outside the home of the owner of the goalposts. The houses just happen to be very close to each other because its an estate. The OP's house in particular doesn't appear to have been chosen or targeted on purpose. :rolleyes:
Its just in close proximity to both the neighbours house and the patch of grass the kids play on.

Irrelevant. Both the kids and their parents are aware of the issue it's causing and yet are continuing regardless. There's also no reason why the OP should have to put up with this because "kids will be kids"

Let them play outside their own gate. You can be sure if the balls were landing in the neighbours garden/bouncing off their car there'd be a different reaction.

Cushie Butterfield wrote: »

According to the OP no damage has actually been done to the property or car, & it's a case of 'what if's'. Constantly worrying about a situation that may or may not ever happen, combined with posting here & who knows how many other forums will only result in her being more wound up than she was to begin with.

This is more of an anxiety issue than anything else IMO, & would probably be better addressed by a visit to her GP especially considering the fact that she's currently pregnant.

Again, see above.. THe OP is not obliged to put up with balls bouncing off their cars/windows and kids tresspassing to retrieve it, just coz.

Bit of consideration from the neighbours would be far better.. ESPECIALLY as there are at least 2 alternative options (resite the goal or move to the other green) that would allow them to play on yet trouble no-one.

tevey08 wrote: »

Just for reference brats is used mildly not in an aggressive or bad manor. Kids will be kids but the kids should have more respect for a pregnant woman and their parents should make sure they've respect for others especially women.

I wouldn't worry about using the term "brats". As I referred to earlier, there are far too many parents these days who are convinced their children can do no wrong.

In my day at that age (1980s) if a neighbour arrived at the door with a complaint I'd have been in the ****. These days that neighbour is likely to be told to f-off or threatened.

Progress! :rolleyes:

Jimmyireland

Had an issue like this last year..Went to Argos and purchased Dummy Cameras. Pointed them directly at the driveway. Don't let them see you installing them. I installed during the day while they were at school, but do let them see you adjusting them..Never had a problem since.

SusieBlue

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

Irrelevant. Both the kids and their parents are aware of the issue it's causing and yet are continuing regardless. There's also no reason why the OP should have to put up with this because "kids will be kids"

Let them play outside their own gate. You can be sure if the balls were landing in the neighbours garden/bouncing off their car there'd be a different reaction.

But that's exactly the point, they probably are playing outside their own gate. But because the houses are so close together, they are also playing outside OP's gate.

_Kaiser_

WhiteRoses wrote: »

But that's exactly the point, they probably are playing outside their own gate. But because the houses are so close together, they are also playing outside OP's gate.

As I read it, the OP's neighbour who has supplied the goalposts, has positioned them outside the OP's garden.. not his own.

Simply moving them to the other side of the green, from what the OP has said, would solve all the problems.. yet instead they (the neighbour) have gotten aggressive about it.

MrsSBG

WhiteRoses wrote: »

But that's exactly the point, they probably are playing outside their own gate. But because the houses are so close together, they are also playing outside OP's gate.

To clarify the goals are positioned adjacent to my driveway (we have no gate/wall) away from our neighbours driveway which is next door. The goals have never been in front/adjacent to their driveway. Its maybe once or twice rolled into their driveway. While the ball is rolling in (that's fine) and flying in smacking my car constantly, I mean constantly. In the space of 40 minutes one night this happened 4 times. Last night my mother was visiting and they smacked the ball off her car, there was a loud bang. Mentioned this to the neighbour too and he couldn't care less. Just ignored it and continued to be obnoxious to me (6 months pregnant) and my mom (a 5 foot 60 year old grandmother). Charming!

MrsSBG

_Kaiser_ wrote: »

As I read it, the OP's neighbour who has supplied the goalposts, has positioned them outside the OP's garden.. not his own.

Simply moving them to the other side of the green, from what the OP has said, would solve all the problems.. yet instead they (the neighbour) have gotten aggressive about it.

Kaiser you have it spot on!

MrsSBG

Jimmyireland wrote: »

Had an issue like this last year..Went to Argos and purchased Dummy Cameras. Pointed them directly at the driveway. Don't let them see you installing them. I installed during the day while they were at school, but do let them see you adjusting them..Never had a problem since.

You've read my mind Jimmy Ireland I have purchased dummy cameras, just awaiting delivery and have a 'CCTV in operation' sign. Thanks for your input.