Kiddies Playing Football On Estate

[Kgrayz]

Just wondering if anyone will know who I can contact regarding my son and his friends playing football outside our home.

My little boy is 9 and his friends are 10 and 6 we live in an enclosed estate and they like to take their football goals outside and play football ..

they are to small to play over the local field .

Yesterday the police were called by one of our neigbours who often complain that the ball has rolled on this drive.

[joko]

ah, just got it, you mean wary ... which means cautious

weary means tired and worn out - couldnt figure out why a policeman would say that to you

[scooping]

So what did the police say??

[joko]

cant they just play a few houses down the road?
are they so little that they cant move 50ft up the road?

[ummmm]

The police will come out for something that minor, Prudie.

[Baldric]

I just relieved we don't get that sort of problem around here. Having said that, there is a Pensioner who goes by everyday whose Zimmer-Frame goes 'clunk, clunk,' (but more slowly than that) 'cause the rubber tips on the feet are worn out,
Might have to dispatch the OH to have a word with him if it continues.

[Kgrayz]

My bad sorry 'wary' for the children to be 'wary'...

No they have not approached hubby or myself,, just moaned and complained at the kids.

Im not going to have a row or be confrontational or rude as I do not want to live with neighbours and have atmosphere.. Divebuddy - they are playing outside my home aswell as theirs can they stop my 9 year old playing? I just wanted to know if there were rules about as in some estates I have seen signs which state No ball games?

[sunny-dave]

Being English, I can see both sides of this sorry tale.

Being nosy, I'd love to read the other person's account of the incident.

My guess is that it goes along the lines of:

"I have spent months asking politely that the neighbours children stop destroying my neat, tidy front garden with their football game - and asking them in particular not to touch my brand new car. Their parents have been no help at all, even though they know there is a problem, and I eventually snapped and called the Police. The Policeman sympathised with my plight and said that he had advised the parents to prevent their children from causing any further annoyance."

I suspect that the truth lies between the account given here by the parents, and my fictitious account from the neighbour.

As to what happens next ... who knows? Compromise would be nice (and very English), but confrontation seems more likely.

The winners, if there are any, will be the ones who can produce some evidence if/when the (probably quite irritated) Police return. I'd get a video camera and use it ... a sad situation though.

dave

[maggiebee]

Don't sound like very friendly neighbours Kgrayz. So, a ball rolls on to his drive? Does it do a lot of damage? Did he never play outside when he was a child? I would rather see children playing outside getting fresh air and exercise rather than sitting staring at a computer or TV screen. Live and let live for goodness sake, they're only young once.

[slinky.kate]

I had my son doing different clubs every night,judo,swimming,athletics and football club,if he went out to play in the earlier ours I encouraged him to play on his bike,skateboard,it didn't always have to be football,i never got complaints from neighbours.

[slinky.kate]

^ hours

[viv38]

All I can say is, you'd change your minds if your window was broken and your car dented by wayward footballs. I stand by everything I said !

[Daffy6543]

The problem with ball sports in the street is you can't always control where the ball ends up, especially younger children who are just learning coordination skills. Then there is the inevitable shouting and screaming that goes along with a game of footie, as well as the aforementioned ball banging against concrete. Ball sports should be played in the appropriate place. I have no problem with kids riding bikes or skateboards in the street as long as they keep themselves safe from traffic.

[Kgrayz]

Can we enter pics so i can actually show u pics of their actual garden?

[B00]

Yes, you can.

http://tinypic.com/

When it's uploaded (the photo) use the URL which is labeled something like 'direct layouts'

[pixie373]

I can see it would be a problem if something is damaged and needs paying for. But if this neighbour genuinely cannot tolerate the sound of other humans, he really needs to move somewhere isolated.

[Peaspeculiars]

This is a difficult one to call, both sides of the argument can be justified to some extent.
I remember getting screamed at and chased after by a neighbour when playing in the street with a group of friends as a child - he was so angry - luckily we could run faster - after my mum had nipped over to his house to see what caused him to scream at us, he explained that he worked nights, had a relationship breakdown and money worries and was just so tired he snapped.
Could this be the same as your neighbour perhaps? More to the story? Have a chat with your neighbour calmly without the children in tow and see if your children really have been behaving as well as they tell you they have.
It's great to encourage kids to play outdoors, but something is not quite right about the set-up. Are they perhaps being too loud, or is the neighbour stressed about something completely different and just venting at them.
Whatever the cause, something has to give. And if this means asking your kids to make less noise or move further up the road to play away from the house it's no great shakes is it?
Not everyone can afford to move to a house surrounded by fields away from others, so a compromise must be made.
I think he may have called the police as a lot of people are scared to approach neighbours about a sensitive issue in case things 'kick off' if you get the jist.
Keep allowing them to play Kgrayz, but change the way they are currently doing it in a way such as to make all parties happy.

[joko]

they are not little kids either, 9 and 10 are old enough to have some ball control.

calling them 'kiddies' may make them seem little but they are not that little

does he have a gate? or is the ball going over a wall?

[woofgang]

joko its an open drive at the front of the house, which slopes down towards the bloke's house, the OP's drive is uphill of the blokes drive so the ball naturally runs down the slope towards the blokes house (culled from the OP's posts) I am sorry but it just doesn't sound to me like an area where children should be playing football....