Common Sense Prevails in US Sport

mr_goo

At last some good common sense for childrens' sport. Have the FA adopted a similar stance?

http://www.skysports.com/football/news/12096/10062987/us-soccer-bans-headers-among-u10-age-group

veronese68

I like this bit:

The lawsuit sought rule changes rather than any financial settlement

Chogger

Added to the obvious health benefits it will probably make the kids better footballers as well as they will learn to keep the ball on the deck and play skilfully rather than lumping the ball up to the big kid upfront. It's about time the same practice was adopted in the UK as it can't be good for a kid to repeatedly take blows to the head by heading a football all the time even if its not hit that hard.

Giraffoto

When I were a lad, the older footballs in the sports locker (the ones the school had had since football was first legalized) were made of something like rhinoceros hide about an inch thick. Even dry it was advisable to duck if one came towards your head, but in the wet they were like a rock of the same size. I bet the school still has them . . .

bompington

Surely this is nonsense. Anyone can see that if heading the ball repeatedly caused cognitive impairment, footballers would all be as thick as pigsh....

.....Oh.

DeVlaeminck

I doubt it'll make much difference either way as far as the number of headers you see in games but certainly I wouldn't want to coach heading with kids - I help run an U14 girls team and I don't coach it and we leave it up to the girls if they want to head away kicks from the keeper - corners I do expect them to stick their head on it even if around half wont.

At the younger ages though it can't do any harm to ban it and if it encourages the ball to be played on the floor more then all the better. I suggested as much on a facebook page for local football youth football which is mainly people who coach teams and I reckon 90% were against the ban.

Frank the tank

By playing in goal I avoided the whole heading the ball issue. I traded it for diving at the attackers feet at the realistic risk of getting my head kicked off my shoulders.

Goalkeeper=Best position in the team.