The US soccer federation has just banned heading the ball in games played by the under 10s. This is to stop head injuries and concussions. Is this necessary or an over reaction? Or just the Americans wrapping their kids in cotton wool. Discuss.
I can see why, but surely they could just create a lighter ball for under 10's to play with so they still learn the technique of heading in games, without the blunt force to their bonces?
I coach an under 8s junior team down-under and we don't encourage heading, but the kids don't shy away from it when given the chance. I've always thought it's about technique and shouldn't be a problem if kids go about it the right way i.e. confidently heading the ball, rather than letting the ball simply hit you which seems to happen when a player is nervous about it... That's when the injuries occur. Unfortunately you don't see much training in heading the ball as youngsters so it often comes down to painful trial and error for kids.
If nothing else it should help with their technical skill levels regarding keeping the ball on the floor, it should certainly be more conducive to possession football anyway
When I used to play as a kid, we used the leather football with laces in. You soon learnt how to head a ball properly then. My dear old dad used to say, that if it hurt you, then you weren't doing it right and it was your own stupid fault.
Research reveals footballers are still heading for serious trouble Scientific study on women footballers in the US has shown that constant heading of modern lightweight footballs can cause lasting brain damage http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2015/nov/01/football-heading-brain-damage In light of ongoing research into this, it's probably best that kids don't start regularly heading footballs under the age of 10.
Wasn't the passing of Jeff Astle a few years back attributed in some way to the damage he'd done himself heading those old leather balls with laces?
Poor old Ipshitch Towan a whole new ethos would have to be taught to their youngsters if this rule was enforced over here
I remember one of our mates at school had a football which was like concrete it was so hard, we used to have someone who would punt it as high as possible then try to head it back as high as possible. I've never suffered as a result....actually it might explain a lot!
If kids don't learn to head the ball when they are young they'll be terrible at it when they get older, the modern balls are soft enough the US needs to get a grip.
Yeah, sod the peer reviewed research hinting at potential brain damage! Football is more important than the future health of the children!
I've got to be honest here, yes lets sod it! Governments really are not required to be policing every element of our lives and nanny stating us to a position of not heading a football is ludicrous. In Britain we have been playing football en mass for many years, each generation with improved life expectancy and improving health. (At least until the obesity bomb hits!) That this ban originates in America is even more ludicrous, a country that has the WWE as an iconic business with so many of it's performers suffering premature mortality and followed by so many youngsters, American footballers with the pressures through out the highschool and collegiate system concusing each other in savage hits that continue into the pro game. And lets not even start on the gun ownership laws. Football may not be as important as anyones future health but who on here believes it's had a detrimental effect on them? Did I ever even as an 8 year old feel concussed or really hurt by heading a ball? Nope! Do I do myself and my braincells allot more damage down the pub on a semi regular basis? Oh yes! will these children grow up to do the same damage as the rest of us by self inflicting Booze, drugs and junk food on themselves. Probably! There are so many ways in which to damage yourself in your lifetime and in my book it should take a lot more than a study of hints and potential to be telling everyone to stop something which on a scale is relatively low risk, with very little certainty of even mild negative effects. Come the revolution will you ban everything potentially harmful? There'll be nothing to eat as every week something new is stated to cause cancer, should we all migrate south in the winter because some child might slip on ice and break limbs and or get concussion? What do you think about; snowball fighting, conkers, hot drinks, anything wooden (Splinters and ensuing infection), people congregating in the same space (Illness, disease and contagion!) Time for us to all live in hermetically sealed padded boxes, because to expose ourselves to even slight risks is madness! Bah!
