News: USSF bans heading for youth players

I think this is a great idea -- from my coaching experience, most kids under 10 can't head the ball effectively, anyway. According to the coaching clinics, the point of introducing heading the ball was to begin the development of the skill for when they were older. Since a lot of U10's never progress to U12 (there was, in my day, anyway a big drop off at u12 and a huge drop off at u14), what's the point of risking concussion for a skill that'll never be of use?

 

Do kids really get concussions from heading the ball? Even at the pro level, it would be pretty rare that the velocity of the ball could cause that much damage. I always thought most soccer concussions were like Twellman's, a collision with a keeper's fist, or maybe a foot or another player. I once got a concussion because I went up for a header and we cracked heads like the three stooges. I got the worse for it, plus 14 stitches in the haid... The headaches were so bad I couldn't drink beer for 8 years!

 

Yeah, those 'two people going up for the ball' headers are what the USSF is trying to eliminate.

 

I believe you are correct. The most obvious sources of concussion are from head-to-x (head-to-head, head-to-foot, head-to-post, elbow-to-head, etc.) collisions. So, for me, heading is at most a secondary issue. I know of no good data in which heading in the modern game has been implicated.

The question is, assuming protective headgear works, how many kids/adolescents/adult-sized players have to wear headgear in order to prevent one head injury? I would argue that it happens enough, particularly with goalkeepers, that making headgear mandatory should be seriously discussed.

As a practical matter, just as it took the NHL to take action after Teddy Green, it would take the world's biggest leagues to put it in place for it to become a reality.

 

I concur; I don't have a big problem with the new rule. I don't think I ever practiced headers until about U-13 or U-14. On PTI last night they were asking if this would put us at a disadvantage to the rest of the world....no. Heading the ball is an important skill, but it's not a complicated skill. Probably the most important aspect of the skill is control of your body in the air; which most younger players lack. I would be opposed to having a ball headed in an under 11 game or younger called a foul. That's sending the wrong message. I have stood on the sidelines for hundreds of games, the number of times I have seen the ball headed by that group could probably be counted on one hand.

I agree with Jon Marin; we should have a discussion about head gear. I think keepers should wear head gear; but I'm torn about having field players wearing them. Will it change the game, by making heading the ball with more power a greater aspect of the game? Right now the head gear is soft and wouldn't change things much, but we all know how changes creep in to games for someone to gain an advantage.

 

Interesting. Generally I think it is a good idea, although rules like this often have unintended consequences.

My son played U-14, and headed the ball more than anyone on his team, and never had a problem. Then he missed two months with a concussion, not from heading, but from taking a free kick in the face.

 

The kids will now do it more on their own since it's banned. If they were smart they'd ban dribbling and kicking with your less dominant foot.

 

Twellman getting trolled because of this.


Disgusting behavior from @UMBMensSoccer@UMassBoston students and shows a real lack of leadership there.#Amateur

 

My question is why are kids U10 and under heading the ball in the first place? They should ban punting and aimless bootballs and require dribbling and passing on the ground.

 

It's the Kardashian world we live in. It doesn't matter how stupid what you do to get noticed is, getting noticed is all that matters.

 

repped assuming you meant your more dominant foot, since we want two-footed youth players.

 

My first conditional "rep".

 

I have a few concerns with a rule like that. There's the argument that they can learn it when they are older, yes, but in reality, the older the kids get, the more the focus is on just finding ways to win, rather than learn/reinforce basic skills.

I think the real risk in heading is not age as much as lack of training in how to do it correctly and safely. At the risk of adding to the bureaucracy, I'd suggest only allowing heading by teams that have had certified training in the skill.

FWIW, I teach/practice heading with kids by using bouncy-balls, beach balls or balloons. IMO the most important part is learning to keep your eyes open and "meet it with your eyes". It becomes much easier to practice when there's no potential pain involved - and, with a lightweight ball, you need to learn to put energy into the ball, rather than just redirect it.

 

I'd say that head injuries from heading a soccer ball are pretty rare. The bulk of the injuries come from bumping someone else's head or getting elbowed or kicked when you try to head the ball, not from bad technique.

 

I wish they would ban heading at all levels of the game. I really don't think it contributes that much to the sport, and it's a fertile source of injury. I bet two-thirds of all concussions are heading-related, mostly from the clash of heads or elbows to the head. Plus there's a certain amount of evidence that routine, non-concussive headers take a toll on the brain.

People will argue with me that heading is an integral part of the game, but I think the sport would do just as well without it. After all, most headers are kind of aimless jump balls, and I routinely see guys head a ball they could take down with their chest. Unlike American football, soccer can be made tremendously safer, while not sacrificing the basic nature of the game.

If I were a Russian oligarch, I would organize a no-heading tournament, just to see what it looks like.

 

From a very brief internet search, it looks like about 1/3 of goals scored are from headers. Set pieces will generally be much less dangerous and crossing will be much less effective and easier to defend. I'd say that's a big change to the nature of the game.

 

I don't think it is simply because it's for kids under 11. If they banned it for youths all the way to 16, then that's another story. Plenty of time to teach kids 12-and-up how to head the ball.

 

Concussions are caused by the brain rattling around in the head. A sharp impact like a kick or elbow needs to have far more force applied to make this happen than an object the size and shape of a child's head (like a soccer ball). That's physics:



And who posted twitter hate? Lowest Common Denominators exist on all sides of every issue, now they have a microphone. Stop acting like that was abnormal.

 

Sure, but since headers are a legal play now, certain plays and players will be selected for. That's basically how Columbus operates, and how Kamara scores so many goals.

But of course that's not the only way to score a goal. From a purely aesthetic viewpoint, would you prefer to see players like Giovinco, who pretty much never heads the ball, or some big galoot who can hit the ball with his head?

As to set pieces, I think it cuts both ways. I'm actually inclined to think that if the defense isn't able to head it away, that creates more opportunities for attackers. To some extent the rise we've seen in short corners reflects this reality.

As the game continues to evolve in the direction of finesse, heading begins to feel more and more anachronistic to me. It's a relic of the days when the people who invented the game imagined that wars were won on the playing fields of Eton. Heading to me feels to me like it's less about the skill or beauty of the game than it is about cheap machismo, of the kind demonstrated by those imbeciles on Twitter above.

Speaking of which, that's pretty conclusive evidence of brain damage right there.

 

Agreed. Soccer is low scoring as is, without taking away a third of all goals. It's common in the top leagues in the world and at intl level, if not MLS.

 

Did you read the post I was responding to?

 

That's not physics. Force isn't determined by the size and shape of an object, but by the mass of an object. Soccer balls normally weigh under a pound, body parts are both heavier than that and anchored to heavy objects.