U.S. Soccer recently revealed a new set of rules which will eliminate heading for children 10 years old and younger, while limiting the amount of heading that 11-13 year-olds can do in practice.
The new rules will become requirements for U.S. Soccer’s Youth National Teams and the U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Beyond that, the rule changes stand only as recommendations due to U.S. Soccer’s limited authority at the local levels of the sport. However, the rule changes were made according to the advice of the U.S. Soccer medical committee, and the organization strongly urges compliance throughout the country.
While these new guidelines have the support of medical professionals and concussion awareness advocates, most notably among them being former US Men’s National Team player and current ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman, not everyone is convinced that this is the solution.
Things that happen as kids get older: Faster; bigger; more aggressive/competitive. Were going to ask them to learn how use their head then?
— Brian McBride (@BMcBride20) November 10, 2015
McBride, another former US Men’s National Team star, made a career out of heading the ball. Like others who aren’t convinced that banning headers at the youth level is the best way forward, he stresses the importance of education over prevention. Many others share his opinion, such as notable coaches like Thomas Rongen and many current and former professional players.
The argument over the new header rules boils down to more than soccer, health, or age, and the verdict may yet lie in the court of public opinion. Undoubtedly, the rise of head injuries in American football, particularly among NFL players, as well as studies linking concussions suffered by these players to long-term brain injuries, have heightened the public’s awareness of the dangers of head injuries and brought the conversation to soccer. The oft-overlooked risks of repeated blows to the head that occur when heading a soccer ball are being brought to light in a way that reaches a much wider audience than before. The concerns are real, they are based in scientific study, and they warrant attention and thorough consideration. But are the new guidelines set forth by U.S. Soccer reactionary? Is their resolution to a lawsuit a more liberal gesture than it ought to be?
In their statement regarding the resolution and rule changes, U.S. Soccer stated:
“Protecting the health and safety of athletes and preventing injuries is critically important to U.S. Soccer. U.S. Soccer has taken a lead in education, research and proposing rule changes to improve player safety for several years, and is looking forward to continuing in that leadership position with the release of the player safety campaign.”
While it is undeniably true that certain rule changes throughout youth levels of the sport can go a long way toward improving player safety, there are certainly other measures that could be taken to improve both player safety and long-term development of the sport of soccer in the United States.
Instead of banning headers at an age level where the ball is rarely hit hard or high into the air, emphasizing the importance of playing the ball on the ground could prove a much more effective method of both limiting the amount of heading done by younger players as well as improve the quality of play and level of understanding experienced by players throughout the rest of their soccer careers.
As players develop physically, the increased levels of physicality at higher levels of youth soccer present an increased danger to those not properly educated in an aspect of the game that they are bound to encounter. Pushing back the amount of time that players have to learn how to head the ball properly doesn’t increase their safety for the long term. The only way that could be seen as a meaningful step toward player safety would be if heading the ball was banned at all levels including NCAA and professional. It is very unlikely that something along those lines becomes adopted any time in the foreseeable future.
Until then, the most effective solution is to emphasize playing the ball on the ground and stressing the proper education of players regarding heading the ball, as well as in all other aspects of the sport.
Of course, the caveat here is that there is not a high enough volume of coaches in this country who are of the quality required to make these kinds of stylistic changes stick throughout youth soccer. It can be argued that there aren’t enough coaches who can properly educate players on how to head the ball in the safest, most effective manner possible, either.
In the meantime, it’s easier for U.S. Soccer to simply eliminate heading from levels of the game than it is for them to introduce sweeping changes to the education of youth coaches. While this can be seen as an effective short-term gesture and equally effective lawsuit resolution, U.S. Soccer can’t afford to lose sight of developing a long-term plan that both increases player safety and the education of youth coaches. Education and safety go hand-in-hand, and they are both integral parts of moving the game forward in the United States.
