Recent presentation by some chaps from the Radiological Society of North America who studied 32 amateur football players claim that heading balls repeatedly lead to traumatic brain injury. Recall that Jeff Astle of West Bromwich Albion died 2002 due to degenerative brain disease. No matter that the sample size was small, and that the brain imaging data was collected surveying the players, as the news-wires pick up the thread and doctors and league administrators start formulating new guidelines to keep the [youth] players safe, here is something to think about as a referee who even though not an active participant is still responsible for player safety - isn`t clashing of heads more traumatic than heading balls?
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... I was on a youth league board for a number of years, and this came up regularly. I am not a doctor, and my info is several years old now, but I did look into it fairly carefully. To the best of my knowledge, there is zero data showing that properly heading an age-appropriate sized ball causes any injury to an otherwise healthy player. Head to head (or other unyielding body part) and head to ground, on the other hand, carry significant (and obvious) risk of concussion. The intermediate case of ball to head (say, getting in the way of a clearance?) seems to me to be in the second category, but I could not find any literature on the subject.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... i've looked at some of the soccer head injury literature over the years- i have a playing child. heretofore, the literature has focused on traumatic head injuries such as concussions and skull fractures: for these issues, head-to-head and head-to-goal contacts are the relevent impacts. ball impacts seem to not be as much of a factor, even less so if one is deliberately heading the ball, rather than being struck by one. now, and correctly so, the focus turns to the boxing style impacts: softened blows that are repetitive. football is living through this right now, and soccer probably should as well. the physics behind this is acceleration and deceleration of the head leading to shearing of axons. with sharp impacts, the rate of deceleration is much higher, and obviously lead to injury. the question is whether slower decelerations can also lead to cumulative injury. my guess is that it will be borne out that heading the ball endlessly will indeed be something that is worth avoiding.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... You need to rethink your position on this matter. The evidence is beginning to mount that it does cause changes to the cellular structure of the brain. Repeated heading does cause brain injury similar to those received from concussions. Granted this is one study, but I would not discount it's importance. http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/11/29/heading-soccer-balls-can-lead-to-brain-damage-study-says/ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2067438/Headers-lead-brain-damage-scientists-warn.html
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... As a referee, unless the LOTG change, no there is nothing we can do. Heading is part of the game. As a parent with kids playing soccer it would be prudent to avoid excessive heading even just juggling the ball with the head.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... I've heard that, over time, it contributes to short-term memory loss, and can lead to prolonged concussion-like symptoms. And, over time, it contributes to short-term memory loss. Seriously, whether it's based on data or not I'm seeing more protective headgear on the fields than I used to. Not to sidetrack but some kids (in my informal surveying during stoppages) tell me they are more comfortable going in for headers than without it, and now wear it because they like to, protective measure or not. I've considered wearing one as a player in my "we're old but still waist-deep in denial" league.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... When people mention Jeff Astle they fail to inform people that soccer balls were very different. Balls were much harder and much heavier in the 60s and 70s. I wouldn't be surprised if he used laced football that gashed your head.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... 1000-1500 headers a year? How many games are these guys playing?
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... that may or may not be a good thing -- if that comfort leads to more head-to-head collisions, I suspect the head-to-head collisions with the protection are worse for the head than head-to-ball contact without the protection. (C.f. does all the armor that American football players where lead them to leading with their head, etc., which adds to some of the serious (as in paralysis) injuries.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... You discounted practice. That counts just like games. Same with juggling drills at home or the park. I can tell you from personal experience I practiced heading with my son and demonstrated and after a while felt the effects. Very slightly disoriented and decided not to practice it again.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... Not just games! Formal practice, Pick up games with friends, Personal ball control development. etc. 1500 / 365 days per year is only heading the ball an average of 3 times per day. My Son played on a team that the coach had everybody heading the ball 50 times just in their warm up routine.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... I am very open to that. And I thank you for the links. Interesting reading, and news for me. I do have to say that I am a little perplexed. There are millions of people on this planet who have played soccer and headed the ball thousands of times per year. And yet we aren't all punch-drunk ex-boxers. We may be idiots for playing a game where we use our heads, but we don't seem to be a generation of brain-impaired adults. I know that is merely anecdotal, and if the science speaks to the contrary, I welcome it.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... Not only that but they could absorb a significant amount of water, so the ball he was heading in the rain was quite a bit heavier than it was on a sunny day.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... Has nothing to do with reffin', but this WAS a big point for me when I was youth league admin. We had coaches doing heading drills with U5s (and all other manner of ridiculousness). They could no more play a cross than I could bike one in from the top of the 18. Even if they did get a ball in the air, the much more sensible (if less spectacular) thing to learn first is a chest trap. Modern coaching is about teaching technique first. The Vince Lombardi style (just being a tough guy) has no place around kids. If a kid is complaining about pain, just stop; especially when it come to their BRAINS! Anyway, as you say, as a ref, all we can do is keep our eyes out for kids they may need assistance. btw, NFHS now makes a decent attempt at this. Might be good to see something similar from USSF for youth play.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... I'm sure that if you don't suffer a concussion from a collision playing the effects are much more subtle, but nevertheless they are real. Post-concussion syndrome results in changes to the physiology of the brain and brain cells. It could lead over a long period of time to Alzheimers like symptoms in people in their late 40's or early 50's. Other long term symptoms include short term memory loss, loss of the ability to focus on problem solving or tasks, issues with facial recognition, and even mood swings.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... Agreed. So, wouldn't it be a pretty simple study to find two groups of adults: one that played soccer growing up and one that didn't? The soccer players should show marked reduced brain function. I know american football and boxing have both done this (or, maybe I should say they had it done TO them). The results were as clear as night and day.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... Well, I have to be careful what I ask for. This seems to say we ARE a generation of punch-drunk ex-soccer-players http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/soccer.html Most troubling for me: 1) Soccer players also seem to perform more poorly than control subjects on some types of IQ tests 2) many former players (81%) suffer from problems with attention, concentration, and memory. 3) Players who typically head the ball have also been found to have more neurological problems than non-headers Ouch.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... I think, actually, the two groups could be divided between those who were field players and goalkeepers. In fact, I believe a study was done years ago that showed that goalkeepers, who rarely head the ball, showed significantly less neurological damage. While I agree that, no, we all aren't punch drunk idiots because we headed the ball as players, it looks likely that there is some degree of damage. Welcome to life. Gridiron football players, even with just high school levels of experience, have increased physiological problems later. I've read that NFL players have an average 10 year shorter life span than people who did not play in the NFL. And people who race cars sometimes die in crashes. And people who play baseball get whacked in the head with the ball or hurt their shoulder by repeatedly throwing the ball hard. So, are we supposed to just sit and home, surrounded by cotton batting to protect us? Oh, wait, that leads to obesity!
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... Do you mean "showed significantly less neurological damage from heading the ball?" Just becoming a 'keeper indicates a head start in that direction--so doesn't it even out in the end? {hey! I was only the third-string 'keeper}
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... Good point, I should clarify - they seem to be more comfortable heading the ball, at some of the levels I ref that's half the battle: heading the ball versus "letting it hit your head". Others it's been freedom to not only head the ball but try to guide it without fear of the symptoms mentioned in many posts in this thread. That said, I'm sure for some it's been the soccer equivalent of "liquid courage" but I haven't seen that on the field as yet. Of course, this is all anecdotal and I make no warranties, etc.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... Just tried to put a little levity into what is truly a serious and concerning topic, hope none (in addition to Hattrix) took it to be bad form. If so, apologies.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... This seems to come to the fore about every 8-to-10 years. Have read many of these and the conclusions always seem to be drawn from related activities rather than solely and directly from play. There was a study in the late 90's from both MIT and Stanford which had a focus on repetitive concussive damage and which concluded that heading the ball could potentially result in brain damage. However the conclusion stated that this would have to be the result of hundreds of impacts a day for more years than most players - including professionals - would play. There also was a study of premier league players which was published just a few years ago which drew a conclusion that paralelled the MIT/Stanford study. Personally, after working for a governmental think tank for many years I learned to look at the 'startling revelations' of any study the same way; there is no right or wrong, only facts and statistics. And keep in mind that conclusions are drawn from statistics, which indicate only what one wants them to indicate.
Re: Heading balls leads to brain injury, or ... I apologize for again mucking up the ref board with more non-ref info, but I need to correct something from a previous post of mine. (I am SO pissed at myself for taking a news company's headline and swallowing it.) A little more reading reveals that the author's of the study are MUCH more circumspect: http://www.einstein.yu.edu/home/news.asp?id=744 In particular: "As there appears to be a safe range for heading frequency, additional research can help refine this number...[then]...the frequency of potentially harmful actions...could be monitored and restricted" Personal editorial: "common sense and science intersect"