Ban children from heading a football

Ban children from heading a football, urges campaign group

A leading campaigner on head injuries in sport has called for a ban on children heading the ball when playing football.
Chris Nowinski is a former professional wrestler and suffered from concussion because of regular blows to the head when playing college American football.
Nowinski told BBC Radio 5 live. "In football, introduce heading at a later age."
He also said that children should not be allowed to play contact sports.
He added: "If we have so many other options out there, like we get them running and being active, why play sports which include hundreds of blows to the head, knowing how bad the consequences are?
"It's much smarter do it when they're teenagers and in their 20s when the brain is more developed and there are medical people on the sidelines during games.
"We can still play those games without contact but who thinks it's a good idea to hit a 10-year-old in the head 200 or 300 times a season?"

Nowinski suffered a serious concussion in June 2003, but due to a lack of understanding about his symptoms, he continued to wrestle and work out for five weeks while symptomatic.
He developed post-concussion syndrome and was forced to retire.
Since then, he has co-founded the Sports Legacy Institute (SLI), a non-profit organisation dedicated to studying sports concussion through education, policy, and research.
Nowinski added that the concussion doctor who treated him said "no sport should have repetitive brain trauma and tolerate it before they reach high school, age 14".

He said: "A new study came out in the US two days ago showing repetitive brain trauma is still causing brain damage.
"Based on all this research, we know we're giving some of those kids a chance of brain damage because we choose to introduce contact so young."
Nowinski adds that children need to be better educated about the symptoms of concussion.
"Why not make it as safe as we can, as long as entertainment value is there," he said. "We have to consider most of the people playing that sport are children.
"By definition they do not have informed consent and they do not have physical maturity, but most are playing the same sport, by the same rules with same dangers. In that respect it's idiotic.
"Study after study will tell you that athletes don't report when they have concussion and try to play through to be a hero but they don't realise they have a concussion as no one has sat them down and explained what it is."
Dr Martin Raftery, the International Rugby Board's (IRB) chief medical officer, is in favour of implementing safety measures, rather than banning youngsters from playing sport.
"In our sport what we're doing is trying to protect the athlete where there is a risk," he said.
Rugby's new guidelines say a player can return to the game just five minutes after suffering from concussion, providing a medical inspection clears him of the injury.
Previously, any player suspected of suffering from concussion had to leave the pitch and take a week off, a period already reduced from three weeks under an earlier rule.
In October, Tottenham were described as "irresponsible" for allowing goalkeeper Hugo Lloris to play on against Everton after losing consciousness.
The Football Association declined to comment. However, England's governing body use size three balls until Under 15 level, when size five balls are introduced.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/25362744

So, what do we think? A step too far, or good idea? Undoubtedly concussion, and continuing on playing after being concussed, is something that needs to be discussed in sport. But is heading a football going to concuss even a kid? I've never seen it happen and the idea of introducing heading when they are teenagers or even "into their 20s" strikes me as completely ridiculous. I understand the drive to educate kids on concussion and avoid incidents like Hugo Lloris' playing on after being knocked out at Everton, but that happened because of direct head to knee contact, not because Lloris was heading a ball. This is a big issue for other sports, notably rugby because of the early introduction of contact, but I just don't see the benefits of banning heading a football at a young age.

Thoughts, anyone?

That is ridiculous.

When you experience something, you see things differently.. so on the one hand I can understand his concerns, but nah. Can't be doing with that.

I train my son in football. He is 6. Heading is important.

Children need to get stuck in at a young age, and not wait until in their late teens.

Jesus F***ing Christ.

I'd rather tape a pillow to my kids head than this sh*t.

Jesus f**king Christ.

I'd rather tape a pillow to my kids head than this sh*t.

You could have something there Crouchie.

Alternatively:

Bubble Football/Soccer Algund ( Bubble Sports )

 

It's  hard to disagree about repetitive heading of the ball having a detrimental effect with cases of concussion recorded, any long term effect is certainly cause for concern, with perhaps  Gary Neville held up as a possible example of a ''F***ing head the ball''     
Seriously, continued contact with say a forty yard lob can only have an effect on the brain, the lighter balls in today's game mean that players will undertake the practice whereas it would have been avoided years ago with the old ''casey'' which was lethal when wet. The phrase for an unbalanced individual was a ''head the ball'' a consequence of heading the heavy balls, a boxer is described as ''punch drunk'' after taking too many head shots, basically the same scenario.
Other than wearing a head guard there is no obvious answer, the thought of players wearing the stuff that American footballers wear is ludicrous and some might say head guards would be the thin edge of the wedge.   

Funny this should be posted today. I got home this morning and switched BBC Breakfast on to find them reporting that more and more kids are taking up non-contact sports (you know, those sh*te games that only crop up when the Olympics are on).
The reason?
Parents don't want their little flowers getting injured playing football, rugby or the likes.
I turned the TV off, shook my head in despair at the namby-pamby state of modern society and trudged off to bed.

The motivation behind it is bad ofcourse, but the outcome of it could actually be good for English youth development. Think about it, kids will be forced basically to play the ball over the ground, no more hoofing.

Whenever I see young kids play football, not that I make a habit of it ;-), they never seem to head the ball anyway so I don't think this is a major issue, but they probably sholdn't be heading the ball much before they are in their teens.

What a load of sh*te. Do gooders are sucking the life out of everything enjoyable these days.

Next thing these idiots will advocate, will be blow football.

Funny this should be posted today. I got home this morning and switched BBC Breakfast on to find them reporting that more and more kids are taking up non-contact sports (you know, those sh*te games that only crop up when the Olympics are on).
The reason?
Parents don't want their little flowers getting injured playing football, rugby or the likes.
I turned the TV off, shook my head in despair at the namby-pamby state of modern society and trudged off to bed.

It's the era of litigation, health and safety where pen pushing cu*ts threaten danger and court cases if otherwise.

Are kids allowed to do kickboxing in the UK? They are in my country.

If the footballs were like they were when I was a kid, they might have a point.
Especially when the F***ing things got wet.

But the ones these days are so light.

Heading a football is nothing like wrestling, american football or any other sport in that category. How about they ban children from playing pee wee football, bet that wouldn't go down too well would it!! Kids use sizes 3 and 4 footballs too until they reach a certain age so not as though the footballs are that big for them to head anyway.

Before they make suggestions to our national sport, maybe they should concentrate on their own national sport and ban children from performing certain things in matches first.

For some reason I take it personal when people have a negative experience doing something they love but then suggest that changes should be made to something I or another people loves doing.

Reading some of the posts on here leave you  , therefore I suspect we all must be brain damaged. 

Heading the ball never hurt me. The elbow that nearly took my nose off did mind.

Are kids allowed to do kickboxing in the UK? They are in my country.

Well they can in Ireland .

Never did me any harm ...

If the footballs were like they were when I was a kid, they might have a point.
Especially when the F***ing things got wet.

I hear you braw.

"Tubers" we called them Swab. Full, non-coated, leather with a F***ing lace; when they got wet they weighed about half a stone. If you headed one, from a height, (when the ground was muddy), you got buried into your shins. Head the lace and you got, at best, a bump like an egg; at worst... stitches. Control, dribble or head one of them fuckers and you could do anything with a ball.

I remember playing with a pansy ball for the first time and couldn't believe how easy the game was.

Instead of banning heading like pansy-assed, wimps we should bring back the "tuber" - watch the skill sets rise then. Ban heading my ARSE.

I had a few concussions from playing Ice Hockey.  Heading a ball shouldn't really be too much of a concern.  If you are expecting a blow to the head (In the air getting ready to head a ball) you can brace yourself/ have the proper technique to head the ball.  In my opinion the danger is blows to the head that are unexpected.  Quickly reacting in order to block a shot or pass. 

I think it would actually be detrimental to avoid kids heading a ball above the age of say 6?  When they are older they won't be as used to doing it.  My point is, if you remove it from their training when they are young, how do you incorporate it when they are older.

I am all for kids being protected from head injuries when they are young. I just think having them avoid something that will inevitably become part of the game they play is not the right way to go.

I think this is indicative of a society where health and safety has gone mad. Considering the sport has been going on for 150 or more years, I would have thought this would be noticeable by now! We need less of this beuracratic nonsense. Children don't usually play with full sized footballs anyway, they are usually much smaller so it's more suited to their footsize.