The U.S. Soccer Federation recently announced that it was banning the use of the header in youth soccer for children 10 years and under, and only allowing it in practice sessions for children aged 11 and 12. When I heard this, I must say that I was pretty surprised. The one sport that I did play throughout my childhood and high school years was soccer, so I feel like this is a subject that I can speak on with some form of experience. The focus in recent years when it comes to head injuries has been mainly on football. Because of the violent nature of the game, we have seen a drastic shift, at every level, in not only how to handle head injuries, but how to prevent them as well. While people have all types of various opinions on what these safeguards have done to the sport itself, at the root of the movement is the goal to keep participants safer, and that is surely a good-natured goal. While football has been in the spotlight, this announcement by the U.S. Soccer Federation should make us remember that there are plenty of kids playing other sports who are susceptible to head injuries that need to be looked out for as well.
What this ruling does, in terms that might be easier to understand, is to completely disallow elementary school age children from heading the ball, and limit the number of times middle school level players can use their heads. Whether this is good or bad depends largely upon who you ask. At the most basic level, I think most outsiders would say that this ruling makes perfect sense. The first 18 years of a child's life are extremely important in terms of how that child will live as an adult. Bad choices or traumatic events that occur at a young age can cause irreparable damage that could last for a lifetime. A child's brain takes years to fully develop, and a soccer ball banging into their head surely cannot be a good thing. However, heading the ball is a fundamental skill that is vital to playing the game of soccer at the highest level, and it is a skill that is absolutely essential to master in order to play the game at that level. So then, is this ruling something that will do more good than bad? I still can't say that I really know for sure.
I started playing organized soccer around the age of five or six, and I played it through high school. During that time, the way I played the game, and the way all of my peers played the game changed quite a bit. At the lowest level, no one headed the ball. We would see it happen on television, but there was little to no focus on using the header as a legitimate skill. As I continued to grow and play, we would practice heading the ball, but that involved very little impact as far as the speed of the ball and the technique we used. I can honestly say that if I were a parent and my child played soccer as an 8-10 year old, I would be more worried about him or her sustaining a head injury on a bicycle or at the playground than playing soccer. So from that standpoint, it seems like this ruling would not have changed the way I grew and developed as a young soccer player.
Even as I reached middle school and began to play more competitively, heading the ball was still not an essential part of play as far as the games were concerned, but it was around that time that it became something that really needed to be learned if you wanted to continue to play soccer into high school. I honestly do not remember the first time I witnessed someone score a goal using a header, but I don't think it was before I was at least 12 years old, so that seems to be perfectly in tune with how the U.S. Soccer Federation came to this conclusion as far as the way the header is used in soccer in this country.
In the short time since this new rule was announced, I have heard more support for the ruling than disdain, and as I write this and think more closely about it as it applies practically to how I grew up playing soccer, I think I have no problem with it. People who are not in favor of the decision use the argument that heading the ball is essential to the game of soccer, and they are completely correct when they say that. I have heard some people say that this will allow children to focus more on footwork and skill handling the ball with their feet, but I really don't buy into that. There are plenty of times during a game of soccer that in order to make a play, your only option is to use your head. What I surely do remember about playing soccer when I was younger is that a "high kicking" rule was strictly enforced. Going up for a ball in the air with your head may be dangerous sometimes, but it is surely not as reckless as trying to win a ball in the air by swinging your cleats up near the eye level of your opponents.
Then what about helmets? Goalkeepers were required to wear helmets from the start when I played soccer in order to prevent head injuries, so then why not allow headers as long as all of the players wear helmets? In my eyes, this seems to be a valid answer. Like I said before with bicycle injuries, helmets were not always mandatory when riding a bicycle, but now any parent with any inkling of care for their child would not allow them to get on a bike without a helmet. Helmets did not always exist in football and hockey, and those sports eventually adapted and made them a requirement. Could that eventually happen is soccer? In my eyes, it absolutely could.
This newfound heightened awareness when it comes to head injuries will, in the long run, do nothing but good for athletes of all ages in all sports. Youth wrestlers and boxers were not always required to wear helmets, but now they are as well. Maybe soccer is next. And then after that, maybe basketball will follow. It may seem outrageous to think that, and "purists" may not like it, but if it helps to protect all athletes, and young ones in particular, then why is it a bad thing?
I wasn't really sure how I felt about this ruling when I first heard it, but I think now that I have given it some thought, I don't have a problem with it. While young children should definitely be aware that heading the ball is vital to playing the game of soccer, I also know that when it comes to actually using the header in a game setting, this ruling is really right on the money. Over 20 million Americans play youth soccer, and that number seems to be continuing to grow. There is a reason they call it the beautiful game, because at its highest level, soccer requires a wide variety of skills and traits, and when played by the best, it can be a beautiful thing to watch.
I will always believe that every kid should get out there and play some kind of sport. It doesn't have to be organized or competitive, but it should be fun, because it is fun. For the 1% that make it to the highest level, then congratulations. But for the other 99%, they should still enjoy the games even if they end up only being a hobby. When you do play sports, injuries will always be a possibility. That is an undeniable fact. However, is the everyday, working class person who never played a sport in their life but smokes a pack of cigarettes a day or goes home to a glass of wine every night just as much at risk as an athlete? Yes, they are. Plenty of people live their lives cleanly. They don't smoke, they don't drink, they don't put themselves at risk by playing contact sports, and that is totally fine. More power to them, and I commend them for living that way. But there are so many ways that sports and athletics can be a positive way to spend your free time that you will never find me campaigning against getting out there and having fun, no matter your age or ability. The safer it is, the better for everyone, and what the U.S. Soccer Federation ruled definitely, in my mind, will help make the game safer for anyone who ever wants to lace up their boots and step on the pitch from now until eternity.
Daily Rangers Update: The freight train that is the Broadway Blueshirts continued to roll last night, as the Rangers made it ten straight games earning at least one point, with eight of those games being wins. A very good and unfamiliar foe will come to town tomorrow night in the form of the St. Louis Blues, in what will be the first of only two meetings between the teams this season. The Rangers sit second in the Eastern Conference, while the Blues sit second in the Western Conference, so this will be a nice test for both teams.
Daily Giants Update: Losing Jonathan Hankins for the season will be a tough blow to a defense that is already questionable, and having to plug in a replacement with the Patriots looming surely is not a good way to start. The Giants opened the season defending the run very well, but without Hankins in the middle, that will definitely be a tougher task. The Patriots could come out and throw the ball 50 times, or they could run the ball 50 times. With this team you really have no idea. We will find out on Sunday.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Paul Goldschmidt won his second Gold Glove award yesterday, and A.J. Pollock earned his first, and both were well deserved. Goldschmidt was also announced as a finalist for the National League MVP, but I still expect Bryce Harper to win the award despite a great year by our first baseman. Matt Williams was also brought back in to coach third base after losing his job as the manager of the Nationals. That means the Diamondbacks baserunners better get ready to work on their turns around third base, because Williams is like a human windmill in the third base coaching box. Send 'em in, and send 'em often.
Daily NBA Update: The Cavs won again last night to move to 7-1 on the year, and Russell Westbrook notched another triple-double after Kevin Durant went down with an injury in a win for the Thunder. Durant's injury does not appear to be anything serious, so Oklahoma City still seems like they have the potential to challenge Golden State in the Western Conference. The Clippers visit Dallas tonight as DeAndre Jordan "returns" to Dallas after verbally agreeing to sign there this offseason before ultimately re-signing in Los Angeles. People are over-blowing this far too much, and they have been since it happened. Maybe, to get back at the Mavs fans, who will surely be all over Jordan, he can shoot above 40% from the free throw line tonight. However, that might be asking too much of a guy that makes Shaquille O'Neal look like Mark Price from the free throw line.
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