Soccer, a sport that has undergone a rise in popularity over the past few decades, is currently in one of the game’s biggest decisions as it relates to the youth level. It is currently being debated if headers should be banned for youth soccer participants. 30% of concussions in soccer occur from heading the ball (Cantu 1). Lack of proper heading technique and concerns regarding concussions demonstrate the problem caused by headers in youth soccer. This is important because concussions faced in the youth years will have an effect during adulthood. I believe that headers should be banned in youth soccer for everyone in age groups up to U-13 (children under the age of 13) because it will better protect them against concussions and emphasize the importance of foot skills in the game at the beginning stages. 

The argument first began with a lawsuit that was filed in 2014. A group of concerned parents and players filed the lawsuit in a California District Court due to their belief that there was a negligence in monitoring and treating head injuries for youth soccer players. They did not want money out of the lawsuit, but wanted a change in rules to help protect the players (Baugh, Subheading 1). This lawsuit got parents and players around the nation beginning to think about concussions and the proper way to handle/prevent them. People were beginning to see that there were risks when it came to heading the soccer ball and not everyone should be doing it. The lawsuit eventually lead to U.S. Soccer, which is the board of the United States soccer federation, issuing a joint statement about the issue. In the statement, they talk about a few changes in the rules with the most important one being, “eliminate heading for children 10 and younger and limit heading in practice for children between the ages of 11 and 13” (U.S. Soccer Joint Statement paragraph 2). This rule change has led to different views as it changes the dynamics of the way that youth soccer is being played. If the lawsuit was not filed, there is a high probability that U.S. Soccer would have never issued the rule change. The issued rule change is a step in the right direction for youth soccer programs. Currently the rule is enforced for US Youth National Teams (USYNT) and their academies, but it is a recommendation to other clubs and teams around the nation (Clarey paragraph 11). With the rule change being at a recommendation, many clubs will not change their rules as they have strong personal opinions on the issue. 

Many people around the nation are confused on why the rule change is enforced in USYNT and academies but not in clubs. The answer is simple, US Soccer controls the youth national teams and academies. They are the ones providing the funding and doing all the work that allows the programs to exist. US Soccer has no control over club teams which is why it is left to the club directors to decide if they will enforce the ban or not. Many clubs across the nation have not bought into the ban and instead allow their players to head the ball. A few of my old coaches have banned headers for their younger players. I think one of the main reasons more clubs don’t enforce the rule change is because coaches are not educated enough on the issue to understand that waiting to introduce headers will make a difference in their player’s health. US Soccer will need to make it a nationwide rule change in order to get the support of the ban going in the direction they want it to.

Some of the arguments used to back up why headers should be banned include an emphasis on proper heading technique and the risk of concussions which can then lead to CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) later in life. The proper heading technique involves using a player’s whole body. A player is to send their head straight through the ball while using their arms and torso to help create power. One of the necessities of performing a proper header is having a strong neck so that a player’s head doesn’t absorb or create all the force (Janes, paragraph 5). When players are in their youth stages they are not developed enough to follow this proper technique as they do not have enough strength in their neck. If the players wait a few years before beginning to head the ball, they will allow their bodies to gain the strength they need which in turn will help protect them from the risk of more head injuries. The concern for youth players is that their heads are taking too much of the impact which is a reason for the push to ban headers. Waiting to introduce headers until the age of 14 could prevent 100,000 concussions among youth athletes each year (Cantu 1). In an article by Christopher Clarey, he mentions that kicking the ball is a natural gesture while heading the ball is not. Many young players remain doubtful of heading the ball (Clarey, paragraph 13). When a player is not confident in their ability to head the ball, it can cause a higher risk of head injury. When they jump for the ball they are not confident in their abilities which can lead to their bodies not being in the proper position needed to perform the header. When I first began heading the ball in games, I tried as much as possible to stay away from them. To my coach, I needed to be going for the ball so sometimes I would jump up to make it look like I was going for the ball which put me in greater danger as I had no way of protecting myself in the air. Some believe that soccer wouldn’t be the same without headers and while that is true for the professional side of the game, heading is not necessary in youth soccer. Banning headers would just put more emphasis on developing a player’s foot skills. 

The primary focus in the youth soccer stage should be in developing a player’s foot skills and their ability to read the game. If a player doesn’t have a good set of foot skills, then it will be hard for them to succeed at any higher levels of the game. In an article, it mentions that three of the most important skills to teach a young player are passing, receiving/controlling, and dribbling. The passing of the ball involves more than just kicking it in the right direction but kicking it with the correct amount of pace and knowing how to kick with both the inside or outside of the foot (SureFire Soccer Subheading 1). By working on these skills with a youth soccer player, it will allow their game to be more developed as they move up through the age groups. When they are more developed players, the need to head the ball will be less as they will have the foot skills to keep the ball on the ground versus needing to play it in the air. Teaching foot skills will help youth develop their game and avoid headers which in turn decreases their chances of CTE later in life. 

The other concern of headers in youth soccer is concussions and its links with CTE. A study was completed by David Janda to see the effect that repetitive head impact had on youth soccer players. They used 61 soccer players from Ann Arbor Michigan and the sample was representative of the youth soccer community. The number of headers performed was monitored throughout the seasons and each year of monitoring included approximately 60 games/practices (Janda 26). At the end of the study it was found that 49% of players complained about concussion symptoms after performing multiple headers. It was also concluded that there was a decrease in cognitive function that was due to the result of repetitive heading of the ball (Janda 30).  Although this was not a longitudinal study, it still suggests that heading the soccer ball does cause stress on a youth players brain. When players are heading the ball as often as they are, it does not give the brain enough time to recover which is causing more concussion related symptoms across youth players. To further back up the argument a study would need to be done that covers a longer period of time to see long term effect of repetitive headers. Another concern for the youth players is that they are less likely to take themselves out of the game if they are experiencing headaches. Older players have athletic trainers on staff that will pull them out of games and evaluate them for concussions. When you are a young player you aren’t thinking about how your headache could potentially be a concussion you are just thinking about going back out on the field and playing. It is important to educate parents, coaches, and players about concussions so that they are more prepared to keep their children out of the game if playing is only going to cause them more harm. If you experience to many concussions at the youth level, the amount of time you can play the game is going to decrease. It is important to protect youth now so that when they are older they don’t have as high of a chance of developing CTE.  If players want to choose professional soccer as their careers, concussion and CTE concerns will follow them all the way through their college and professional years. 

There has been support from professionals and others in the soccer world backing up the ban of headers in youth sports. One soccer star that is backing up the ban is Brandi Chastain. Chastain is most remembered for scoring the game winning penalty kick in the 1999 Women’s World Cup and then ripping her jersey off. Chastain was a player who constantly used her head throughout the game and now she is taking the stance that heading should be banned in youth soccer for participants under the age of 14. She says that the skills of heading the ball is not needed at that age as they should be focused on teaching kids the basic skills including trapping, passing, and shooting (Brangham). Chastain was one that used to believe that headers should not be banned across youth soccer. When asked about what changed her mind, she said the research that has been released made her realize the harms of headers and when she became a mother she began paying closer attention to the issue as it involved her son (Brangham). This interview puts the issue into perspective as a retired USA female soccer athlete is endorsing the argument of banning headers. She understands that it will change the game, but the health of the players is more important. If we protect players while they are in their youth, they have the possibility of longer careers and are more likely to stick around the game when they retire. In a video uploaded by KGUN 9, which is the abc-affiliated news station in Tucson Arizona, they interviewed the Arizona youth soccer club director and the University of Arizona coach. The Arizona youth soccer club director mentioned that he is taking the rule change seriously and will be changing the rules for all of his clubs. The University of Arizona coach also agreed that the rule change makes sense (No More Headers: U.S. Soccer to ban heading the ball for kids under 10). Having back-up from a college coach and a youth director is very important for the issue as it is showing support about the change. The soccer club director changing the rules for his club suggest that the research is making a difference for people as he is changing the rules for his club.

Even though the evidence to back up banning headers is strong, it is important to understand the opposing side. For people who are against the ban, they believe that it won’t make a difference as it will cause different head injuries and they see heading as an important part of the game. If youth players aren’t allowed to head the ball, it could lead to different types of head injuries as high kicks will become more common. It is hard to sit and wait for the ball to come down as your opponent will be trying to get the ball too. A player will be more inclined to stick their cleat in the air to trap the ball which could lead to them kicking other players in the head causing the same harm as a soccer ball, if not worse. They also believe that heading the ball is an important part of the game considering so many of the professionals are constantly heading the ball. Even though heading is an important part of the game, removing them in the youth programs does not mean you will never be able to head the ball again. Players will just have to wait for their bodies to become more developed before they begin heading in games. A study by Anthony Kontos was done to see the relationship between heading in soccer and computerized neurocognitive performance and symptoms in youth soccer players. The study used 63 male and female youth soccer players with a mean age of 15.89. They used the Immediate Post-Concussion Assessment and Cognitive (ImPACT) test and symptom reports to evaluate the players. It was concluded that there is no relationship between heading in soccer and computerized neurocognitive performance and symptoms (Kontos 1234-1241). This makes a difference in the research because there is now evidence that backs up the fact that heading in youth soccer is not dangerous. If these youth players are heading the ball and not experiencing neurocognitive performance deficits than there could be no harm when it comes to heading. A study done over a longer period of time would be more influential, as sometimes it just takes time for symptoms to begin appearing.

Ever since the lawsuit filed in 2014 and US Soccer’s joint statement on the issue of heading in youth soccer programs, it has been a long discussion with people’s views on it always going back and forth. In the end, headers should be banned in the youth programs U-13 and under as it will better help protect the participants. It will allow them time for their bodies to develop, learn to proper technique of a header, and allow them the chance to understand the importance of foot skills in the game. Banning headers in youth soccer is good for soccer as it will protect the kids and increase the quality of play as players will have a better set of foot skills. Protecting the kids at a young age will help them when they are older as their chances to keep playing will not be decreasing as much as they would for someone who has experienced multiple concussions. 
