US Soccer new header rules

It appears they are banning headers for girls under 10 and only allowing them in practice for girls 11-13. I like it!

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/10/health/us-youth-soccer-concussions/index.html

Getting referee's to call the game correctly will be the greatest influence on reduction of concussions. Heading is not the low hanging fruit.

This is not the product of long-deliberated policy analysis based on medical insight and national database studies. It's part of a settlement of a class action lawsuit. It's the PI lawyers making soccer rules, not any kind of soccer governing body.

What a load of CRAP! Just another example of our litigious society run amok.

Mommy Nation.

So I guess you all have not read anything that has come out about CTE?  About how even minor collisions can cause permanent brain injury, especially among young developing brains?  I love the game, but I love my daughter a whole lot more.  Not to mention I hope that this moves the game away from a long ball emphasis, to more of a ball control emphasis.  I agree with NoSpin though that the larger issue is getting the game called properly to allow for the more talented players to utilize their skills rather than overly physical play win the day.

I don't care where this came from, and generally I don't want laws to tell me what risks I can take, but without this rule my daughter is at a disadvantage because her mother and I don't allow her to head the ball.

Let's be realistic. In a typical u13 or below game there's maybe 3 headers, usually by the same 2-3 players as the rest of the girls flinch or turn away. I love my daughter much more than the game but in the big scheme of things getting a concussion from heading the ball is pretty low on my list of concerns.

BTW the ball isn't the issue most concussions in soccer occur from head to head collisions not head to ball.

This all being said, if someone doesn't want their daughter heading the ball that's fine. But do we really need a rule preventing it? US Soccer rips apart youth teams across the county to try and be "more competitive" with the rest of the world and then passes a rule prohibiting an essential part of the game?

dreadpirateroberts wrote:So I guess you all have not read anything that has come out about CTE?  About how even minor collisions can cause permanent brain injury, especially among young developing brains?  I love the game, but I love my daughter a whole lot more.  Not to mention I hope that this moves the game away from a long ball emphasis, to more of a ball control emphasis.  I agree with NoSpin though that the larger issue is getting the game called properly to allow for the more talented players to utilize their skills rather than overly physical play win the day.

I don't care where this came from, and generally I don't want laws to tell me what risks I can take, but without this rule my daughter is at a disadvantage because her mother and I don't allow her to head the ball.

If they want to stop it, then yes they will need to make it a rule.  Otherwise you will still get coaches yelling at players to head the ball even if they are told not to.  Last night I heard an 05G coach yell "why aren't you heading the ball, it isn't a rule yet!".  So clearly he knows it will be a rule, but it isn't so he doesn't care yet.

db10 wrote:Let's be realistic. In a typical u13 or below game there's maybe 3 headers, usually by the same 2-3 players as the rest of the girls flinch or turn away. I love my daughter much more than the game but in the big scheme of things getting a concussion from heading the ball is pretty low on my list of concerns.

BTW the ball isn't the issue most concussions in soccer occur from head to head collisions not head to ball.

This all being said, if someone doesn't want their daughter heading the ball that's fine. But do we really need a rule preventing it? US Soccer rips apart youth teams across the county to try and be "more competitive" with the rest of the world and then passes a rule prohibiting an essential part of the game?

One step forward, two steps back.

The new rules—which also include changes to substitutions—are in response to a class action lawsuit, which will now be dismissed. ---the real reason this is happening  

Overall, 627 concussions were sustained during 1 393 753 athlete exposures (AEs) among girls (4.50 concussions per 10 000 AEs), and 442 concussions were sustained during 1 592 238 AEs among boys (2.78 concussions per 10 000 AEs). For boys (68.8%) and girls (51.3%), contact with another player was the most common concussion mechanism. Heading was the most common soccer-specific activity, responsible for 30.6% of boys’ concussions and 25.3% of girls’ concussions. Contact with another player was the most common mechanism of injury in heading-related concussions among boys (78.1%) and girls (61.9%). There were few differences in concussion symptom patterns by injury mechanism.

CTE is a result of repetitive head blows.  They do not need to be severe enough to cause concussions.  Don't confuse concussion incidence with CTE.  The science on CTE is in it's infancy, but what we do know points to change being necessary.  The lawsuit did not seek money, only a change in the rules to protect our children.