Kids who head soccer balls are more likely to develop dementia, neurologists say
Repetitive impacts
Jeff Astle, a member of England’s 1970 World Cup squad, became the first British soccer player confirmed to have died from CTE –classed as an industrial injury. Astle’s family had long claimed it was heading the ball that was to blame. But it was only when England’s 1966 World Cup-winning heroes began to be diagnosed with dementia that the soccer world really took notice.
This link cannot be dismissed as a result of older, heavy balls that were replaced by lighter balls in recent years. This is a myth, as both older and new balls weigh 14-16oz. And while older balls got heavier when wet, they traveled slower and were less likely to be kicked to head height in games.
Recent studies show that heading the ball, even just 20 times in practice, causes immediate andmeasurable alterationsto brain functioning. These results have been confirmed in other heading studies and are consistent with research on repetitive impacts that occur from other sports such asdownhill mountain biking, resulting from riding over rough terrain.
Read more:Tour de France: does pro-cycling have a concussion problem?
More worryingly, in a large study of former professional soccer players in Scotland, when compared to matched controls, players were significantly more likely to both be prescribed dementia medications and todie from dementia– with a 500% increase in Alzheimer’s.
These findings finally pressured the FA into changing the rules for youth soccer. In February 2020, the FA denied direct causation but followed what America had donefive years earlierand changed its guidelines concerningheading the ball.
The current guidelines don’t stop children from heading the ball in matches, but they do forbid heading the ball as part of training until the age of 12 – when it is gradually introduced. These measures do not go far enough.
A new campaign, called Enough is Enough, and an accompanyingseven-point charterwas launched in November which calls for a radical intervention into heading in soccer. Former England captains, Wayne Rooney and David Beckham havesupported it,while 1966 legend Sir Geoff Hurst has also backed a ban on kids heading the ball.
And the players union, the PFA, has now called for heading in training by professional players to bereduced and monitored.
The demands in this charter will be costly, as they concern aftercare for those with dementia and more expensive research into the issue. But the most significant demand they make is to protect professional players from dementia by severely limiting header training to no more than 20 headers in any training session with at minimum of 48 hours between sessions involving heading.
These progressive policies should not be delayed by those in the sport, such as the medical head ofworld players’ union Fifpro, Dr Vincent Gouttebarge, who claimed that more research is required. Governing bodies can no longer take half measures or call for further discussion. This discussion has beentaking place for 50 years.
Bring in the ban
Brain trauma in sport is not a medical question, it is a public health crisis. If the evidence is strong enough that the PFA has advocated “urgent action” to reduce heading in training for adult athletes, then heading policies for children – in both training and matches – need to be drastically revised as a matter of urgency.
While media attention focuses largely on the tragedy of lost soccer heroes, this is a much larger problem for youth players. Less than .01% of the people who play soccer in this country play at the professional level – but almost half of all childrenaged 11-15 play the game.
If children are permitted to head the ball between the ages of 12 and 18, this means six years of damaging behavior. Children are not able to make informed decisions and need to be protected. There is no logical reason for the ban on heading soccer balls in training to stop at the age 12. Headers can wait until 18. The sport will survive just fine without them.
This article byKeith Parry, Deputy Head Of Department in Department of Sport & Events Management,Bournemouth University;Eric Anderson, Professor of Masculinities, Sexualities and Sport,University of Winchester, andHoward Hurst, Senior lecturer in Sport, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences,University of Central Lancashire, is republished fromThe Conversationunder a Creative Commons license. Read theoriginal article.
Story byThe Conversation
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