How Bad Are Head Injuries in Soccer?

^^^ wyeaster beat me to it. Lots of armchair tough guys posting up.

I remember taking headers as a kid (played into high school) that at times did not feel good at all. I'm generally in support of limiting them until a certain age. Not to mention the fact that kids generally just aren't very good at them until high school anyway. Insufficient neck strength to change the ball's trajectory, etc. Pre-high school they should be working on effective chest traps more than anything else.

Head Gear in soccer would be the worst thing that could be done.

Concussions are from the brain hitting the skull, not stuff hitting the head that might hurt if there is no protection, give kids head gear and I guarantee concussions go up. They will now have protection and launch themselves at each other.

Shit I say bring back leather helmets in football. Once you split your head open once you will stop spearing with it.

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Originally Posted by DJSapp

Soccer: just brutal

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http://articles.latimes.com/1998/dec/30/local/me-58962

There've been a number of female college soccer players who've retired from multiple concussions in the past years.
http://www.espn.com/espnw/news-comme...ers-becca-wann
as well as professionals
http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/12/health...er-concussion/
serious, life-altering issues from successive concussions.

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Originally Posted by rod9301

Not a smart comment.
50 years ago kids were playing with lead and mercury, you could buy toy soldiers made of lead.

Subsequent research showed that lead and mercury were really dangerous.

So if new facts come to light, we should change our opinion and behaviour.

Nobody is saying protect kids from risky activities, but doing something that is proven to hurt you years down the road is dumb.

I put it in the same category as smoking cigarettes.

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I wanted to quote this because it is on the money. If you look at what the removal of lead from childrens toys, paint, and gasoline has done for society, it is pretty awesome. Grandpa might have eaten lead paint and been find, but the coddled lead free generations have higher IQ and lower crime rates that robustly and significantly correlates. Also, legal access to abortion reduces crime rates (don't tell the religious right!)

So do concussive and sub-concussive injuries in sports cause bad outcomes for people? That is a no brainer. ;) Queue the anecdotal observations of criminality in professional athletes ;)

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Originally Posted by boarddad

Ok, like what?

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Like Golf, Tennis, Cross Country, Nordic Skiing, Ski Racing, Mountain Biking, Ultimate, Basketball, Swimming, Dance, Baseball, etc.

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Originally Posted by boarddad

Show me a soccer player at any age that has a brain injury and I guarantee that did not get that injury from heading the ball. Hitting the ground, another head, an elbow, a goalpost - sure, that will leave a mark. The ball, no, especially if the players are taught proper technique.

And that's the problem with the latest round of restrictions. Players U12 or younger are prohibited from heading the ball. So at U14 they suddenly know how to do it? That makes no sense. The impact from younger kids heading the ball is much less. The ball is smaller and it is not going anywhere near as fast. That is when kids should be learning technique.

Headgear - can't think of anything more worthless. That's like taking some of the air out of the ball. The ball weighs the same and will have the same deceleration when hit with the head. If heading is causing brain injuries (big if) headgear won't fix it.

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i've been waiting for 30 years for the u.s. to produce a serviceable first touch with their feet. heading the ball is not close to the first problem.

The risk of concussion in kids heading the ball is a special case. As an earlier post said, it's the head recoiling from the impact due to weak neck that causes the problem. The ball hitting the head is not going to be a problem for a physically mature fit player. An argument can be made that helmets make sports more dangerous. How do Aussie rules and rugby players tackle? Not with their heads. If American football players didn't wear helmets they might have fewer head injuries since they would avoid head to head contact. It would be a much less violent game, but still football. Boxing was safer in the bare-knuckle era. You can only hit a man so hard with an unprotected hand before your bones break.
And soccer would still be soccer without heading.

My 11 year old daughter plays soccer year round and I can't remember the last time I saw anyone head the ball. A big no no in ULittles soccer is the punting of the ball by the goalie which drastically reduces any chance of heading the ball. It also increases the skill level of the players as they have to build from the back rather than punt and run. During the run of play the kids rarely get the ball up above their chests. So while banning heading may seem overly protective, the fact is, heading the ball rarely occurs in a game, as others have previously mentioned.

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Originally Posted by Kinnikinnick

Ski Racing, Mountain Biking

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???

It's come to this. Whee!

http://www.lensbury.com/wp-content/u.../EarthBall.jpg

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Originally Posted by 4matic

It's come to this. Whee!

http://www.lensbury.com/wp-content/u.../EarthBall.jpg

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At first glance the guy on the left looked like Willis.
http://static.srcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/hodor-3.jpg

Seems appropriate.

https://youtu.be/FRdIXmfm6PA

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Originally Posted by old goat

And soccer would still be soccer without heading.

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I agreed with most of your post but I couldn't disagree more with this. It's a key part of the game.

Look at the benefits
http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/24/health...rnd/index.html

The Atlantic: Football Alters the Brains of Kids as Young as 8. http://google.com/newsstand/s/CBIwoIeDkTA

I have not read a serious suggestion of mandating helmets for soccer. No heading of the ball until they reach an age where the neck muscles are capable of resisting the weight of the ball sounds reasonable. Also kids don't always know how to properly head the ball. Why not wait until they reach an age where their skill level allows them to do it properly. This will have little impact on the game, kids will still learn the most important skills and can easily pick up heading at an appropriate age.

http://i.imgur.com/VbGNp4x.gif

As someone with a close family member whose brain scans look worse than most long term NFL players due to repetitive concussions, it sucks. Like really, really sucks.

I think sports like football or boxing, where the risk is just huge, should have age limitations for people deciding to start the sport. It could be like deciding to smoke, you've gotta be 18 to play full contact.

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Originally Posted by steff

http://i.imgur.com/VbGNp4x.gif

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That is great. Little turd wasn't even watching the game, too busy with his dam phone.

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Originally Posted by single

As someone with a close family member whose brain scans look worse than most long term NFL players due to repetitive concussions, it sucks. Like really, really sucks.

I think sports like football or boxing, where the risk is just huge, should have age limitations for people deciding to start the sport. It could be like deciding to smoke, you've gotta be 18 to play full contact.

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To be clear, there is no way to diagnose Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE) with xray's, or scans. From the Mayo Clinic:

"There is currently no reliable way to diagnose CTE. A diagnosis requires evidence of degeneration of brain tissue and deposits of tau and other proteins in the brain that can be seen only upon inspection after death (autopsy). Some researchers are actively trying to find a test for CTE that can be used while people are alive. Others continue to study the brains of deceased individuals who may have had CTE, such as football players"

As a follow up scans do not detect concussions. Bleeding in the brain which can accompany severe concussions will show up. That is why most concussions are not followed up with imaging unless there is some reason to suspect another injury, bleeding, fracture etc. The sub-concussive repetitive blows that are suspected of being a contributor to CTE will never show up. The defective TAU protein that they find in the brains of NFL football players that "muck" up their brains are also present in the brains of Alzheimer victims. If they could test for this then Alzheimer's would be easy to diagnose, it is not. They still use cognitive testing to confirm the diagnosis.

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Originally Posted by bigdude2468

They still use cognitive testing to confirm the diagnosis.

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And if that is inconclusive, they PM Rontele

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Originally Posted by LightRanger

I remember taking headers as a kid (played into high school) that at times did not feel good at all. I'm generally in support of limiting them until a certain age. Not to mention the fact that kids generally just aren't very good at them until high school anyway. Insufficient neck strength to change the ball's trajectory, etc. Pre-high school they should be working on effective chest traps more than anything else.

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This is my experience of it, both as a former player, and now a parent/coach.

Headers don't foster good technique. We should have young kids playing the ball on the ground, quick passing. Not boot the ball and head it.
I think the new rules for kids are going to make better footballers when kids are forced learn to play more technically.

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Originally Posted by mmmm...pow!

Look at the benefits
http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/24/health...rnd/index.html

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Bullshit.


But seriously I can't believe people are in here saying - 'kid took a direct hit to the head, seemed fine to me' Somehow your dumbass ability to detect internal damage outweighs medical science and medical research. Yeah you as some Dad coach can see that everything is fine. Just like every Dad in 1940 would have had no problem with lead based paint.