Thank you for posting this. I'm going to cross-post in the Chicago Fire forum, along with the study that shows short-term cognitive impairment from repetitious heading (certainly from high velocity balls, but which also raises question about the younger players, even with low-velocity drills). I've played the sport my entire life. The changes by AYSO to eliminate heading are understandable and yes, no small part of backside covering. They were poorly implemented in the AYSO league where my son played, in large part due to the lack of adequately trained coaches, and a lack of parental commitment to get players to practice. Therefore, I was not surprised when, among other changes in behavior, players began attempting to kick high balls that they had learned could not be headed, bringing boot to face. I still believe teaching proper heading technique should be incorporated into young players' development as early as makes sense, to reduce the risk of injury (proper jumping and landing technique, protecting young necks, etc.) and complementary to developing other skills, e.g. movement off the ball, positional sense, etc.. But even before the rule change, I had reduced both the number of drills and repetitions relating to heading skills for childrens' individual training, and for the teams on which they played. Heading opportunities for most young players don't arise in game situations enough to justify more than basic skill development, certainly not high reps at high velocity.