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Headers banned in US Soccerball

When I read the headline I assumed it was for aesthetic reasons - that seems a little silly. And what's with the picture?

SkySportssNews said:
Philadelphia Union's Fabinho heads the ball like a fudging girl in an MLS game
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awful technique, eyes closed, under the ball, all headers like that should be banned

great point @AuroRaman, America could save about 10,000 lives a year by just banning guns, the stupidity is baffling
 
I'm glad they're taking the issue seriously. Probably in part because of the attention to head injuries because of some of the NFL scandals.

I don't think the evidence is in yet, might very well be that it's not actually heading the ball, but rather blows to the head from headed duels that are dangerous.

Kids have developing brains, being safe rather than sorry seems like a decent enough plan.
 
AuroRaman said:
Under 10's banned from headers. But guns are fine...
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If only the right to lump it up to the big man was in the constitution.

Whether heading a modern football gives you brain damage or not when you're 10, I don't know, but it forces them to play it on the deck, so probably be good for their development, skills wise.
 
braineclipse said:
I'm glad they're taking the issue seriously. Probably in part because of the attention to head injuries because of some of the NFL scandals.

I don't think the evidence is in yet, might very well be that it's not actually heading the ball, but rather blows to the head from headed duels that are dangerous.

Kids have developing brains, being safe rather than sorry seems like a decent enough plan.
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Actually when they reported the decision here in the US, that was part of the concern expressed.

A fair number of the concussions were from head to head collisions or elbows, etc.

Personally think it will make it very difficult for a player to pick up that part of their game only after the age of 10/13.
 
Will be fine, no need for kids to be heading balls under the age of 10 any way. get the on the ball/floor basics right first then worry about heading the thing.
 
It's not a bad way of getting rid of the lump it up to the big kid mentality and encourage more technical passing play.

It does seem a strange decision. It's not as if they are using old fashioned leather balls that weight a ton when wet.
 
jts1882 said:
It's not a bad way of getting rid of the lump it up to the big kid mentality and encourage more technical passing play.

It does seem a strange decision. It's not as if they are using old fashioned leather balls that weight a ton when wet.
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As pointed out by Raziel it's not only heading the ball, it's the collisions and impacts that happen as a byproduct of actually heading the football. So the weight of the ball is not the only concern.

I find it stranger that head injuries to kids who have developing brains isn't a concern than what is at most a slight overreaction to the problem.
 
The article does say they took the decision because someone sued US Soccer for negligence

They clearly need to borrow the NRA lawyers. (Or at least purchase a congressman or three)
 
monkeybarry said:
The article does say they took the decision because someone sued US Soccer for negligence

They clearly need to borrow the NRA lawyers. (Or at least purchase a congressman or three)
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There is a precedent for legal action re concussions in the US based on numerous NFL cases in flight.

I think part of the challenge is actually around the womens/girls game, the US has far more women playing the game for quite some time now, and its a medical fact that women are more susceptible to concussions, and kids more than adults. So young girls seem a high risk group and they have had some pretty bad cases (kids messed up long term).
 
Looks like you are right about the women's game being the driver. This report about a US player has some of the background:

When U.S. Soccer announced Monday it had banned heading for players aged under 11, it was a major victory for campaigners like Cindy Parlow Cone.

A former World Cup winner with the U.S. women's national soccer team, her glittering career was cut short by head injuries. She suffered numerous concussions on the field before her injuries dramatically caught up with her one day in 2004.

It was a beautiful morning, the kind you can only find in California in January. Parlow Cone particularly remembers the dew on the grass as she reached down to tie the laces of her cleats. But her fingers didn't seem to be working correctly. The next thing she remembers is waking up in an MRI machine.

She was in her mid-20s, at the prime of her athletic career. She was a World Cup champion, an Olympic Gold-medalist. So how did she end up on an MRI machine with doctors telling her she'd had a mini-stroke?

[...]

At 18 years old, Parlow Cone was a full member of the team. She came home from the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta with a gold medal. The nation had taken notice, and when the 1999 World Cup came around, the pressure was on.

"That was a pressure we put on ourselves," Parlow Cone said. "We knew the impact this would have, not only in women's soccer but women's sports in general."

In one of the most memorable sports moments of the 1990s, as Brandi Chastain ripped off her shirt in triumph after scoring the winning penalty, Parlow Cone and her teammates were World Cup champions. "Just to stand on that stage with the national anthem and all the confetti blowing around, I mean, it was just a surreal experience," Parlow Cone remembered.

But things would begin to change for her during a game in 2001. As she had done countless times before, Parlow Cone went up for a header in the air. She collided with her teammate and their heads smacked together. Parlow Cone was unconscious before she hit the ground.

"It's just ... it's just scary," she said. "In that instant, my life changed."

Parlow Cone stayed in the game. She even headed the ball again shortly after that collision. That's when her fingers started to feel tingly. At halftime, she told the trainer about it. It would be Parlow Cone's first diagnosed concussion, but it wasn't long before she was cleared by doctors and back on the field.

"I think I was just a typical athlete," Parlow Cone said. "I had an injury, we know injuries are part of the game, just tell me how long I need to sit out and what rehab I need to do before I can get back on the field."

Two years later, in the consolation match of the 2003 World Cup, it happened again. Another collision, another blackout, another concussion. Then, in 2004, Parlow Cone woke up in that MRI machine in California.

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/11/12/health/cindy-parlow-cone-soccer-concussion/index.html
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While much of the concussion conversation is dominated by American football, two U.S. studies found that soccer was second only to American football in terms of reported concussions, with rates for girls much higher than boys.

In another study, researchers looked at concussions among U.S. high school soccer players and found that for every 10,000 "athlete exposures" -- meaning a student participating in a game or practice -- there were 4.5 concussions for girls and 2.8 among boys -- a rate less than half that for American football, but still significant.

According to the Concussion Legacy Foundation, heading the ball is responsible for one third of all concussions reported in youth soccer.
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Raziel said:
Actually when they reported the decision here in the US, that was part of the concern expressed.

A fair number of the concussions were from head to head collisions or elbows, etc.

Personally think it will make it very difficult for a player to pick up that part of their game only after the age of 10/13.
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Well I played football from the age of about 3 or 4 till the age of 17 and never picked it up anyway. I was always proud of myself when I actually made contact. I was probably the only striker in the league who never bothered challenging for headers as I knew it was a waste of time.

I can defiantly see it making it harder for them to pick up though. You get kids in Brazil who can do keepy uppies using only their head before they hit puberty. But if there is any correlation between the two then you'd rather they be safe.

I'd imagine if it does increase your chances of brain illnesses it's only a subtle increase and nothing to be terrified off. It's probably not as bad as feeding a kid tons of sweets and, as of last month, sausages.
 
I remember chesting a rather heavily thrown throw in as ten year old in a school game.Totally knocked the wind out of my sails. Ball was your usual leather size 5 but body wasn't developed enough.
 
Not entirely sure how much damage can really be done in modern football.

I'd like to preface the following with the fact that football is much better now, but:

At a very young age I was coached (as a fairly unskilled but intelligent left back) that either the ball or the man got past me, never both. We used to kick lumps out of each other right the way up until the end of schoolboy age - half the time just for the fudge of it.

I find it hard to imagine that a few headers can even come close to the many fists and elbows a tricky winger would take to the head/kidneys in a normal match.
 
They should take diving and feigning injuries to the courts too. Get Suarez and his peers arrested.
 
Players at all levels should wear Petr Cech headgear to avoid the impact of elbows and heads, and just get on with it.
 
Protective gear is the wrong way to go (with a couple of obvious exceptions). It tends to instil confidence about the protection. We'd see more reckless play, especially from goalkeepers if they had more body armour.

As American football shifted from soft helmets to hard helmets it changed the way they tackled, leading to head first tackles. I remember seeing a college football game where the a player chasing a kick lost his helmet but he still charged in head first. Luckily he misjudged the challenge and glanced off his opponents helmet (concussed, but alive). You can see it in rugby in recent years. As they have used more padding, they have changed how they tackle from bringing down a player from the side to trying to go straight through him.
 
scaramanga said:
Not entirely sure how much damage can really be done in modern football.

I'd like to preface the following with the fact that football is much better now, but:

At a very young age I was coached (as a fairly unskilled but intelligent left back) that either the ball or the man got past me, never both. We used to kick lumps out of each other right the way up until the end of schoolboy age - half the time just for the fudge of it.

I find it hard to imagine that a few headers can even come close to the many fists and elbows a tricky winger would take to the head/kidneys in a normal match.
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They did that at my sunday league club as well and that was just under a decade a go. To be honest I think kids have a tendency to want to do that a bit. We even used to play 'hack football' every now and then at lunchtime just for a change, till the head found out and had us more closely monitored.
 
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