Heading ban.....

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Come on - they’re only trying to prevent little kids dying of brain related diseases later in life.

It’s only for under 11s and it doesn’t apply in matches. What’s wrong with allowing children to develop their ball skills first? There’s plenty of time to learn how to head a ball properly later in their development, and if kids want to practise heading on their own they’ll find a cheap, lightweight, plastic ball and a wall - like we all did.

It’s a lot of fuss about nothing imo.
 
Come on - they’re only trying to prevent little kids dying of brain related diseases later in life.

It’s only for under 11s and it doesn’t apply in matches. What’s wrong with allowing children to develop their ball skills first? There’s plenty of time to learn how to head a ball properly later in their development, and if kids want to practise heading on their own they’ll find a cheap, lightweight, plastic ball and a wall - like we all did.

It’s a lot of fuss about nothing imo.
I agree.
But the outraged-by-political correctness brigade will push back. "we was headin' breeze blocks in my day and it ain't done me no harm"
 
Absolutely crazy.

Footballs today are so light in weight that this is obviously an over reaction by the nanny state.
The famous Spanish tippy-tappy football style is what they are after, along with the elimination of tackles - it might look good but it’s not football!
It's the head on head collisions when contesting a header they are trying to avoid. Delaying initial head trauma injuries can have a substantial benefit in long term health.
 
The problem with "evidence" in this space is its always 40-60 years behind- the did a study recently that seemed to showed - "Former professional footballers are three and a half times more likely to suffer from dementia and other serious neurological diseases "





Correlation is not necessary causation and also the ball / speed has changed so much in the last 20 years so we have to wait another X years to see the impact of playing now.

That being said, they are aware that impacts to an underdeveloped brain are more risky than a developed. We don't really want kids under 12 booting the ball and chasing, its best to keep the ball on the ground with smaller sized games. Whats the problem in doing this if it reduces the risk of dementia in the future.
 
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The problem with "evidence" in this space is its always 40-60 years behind- the did a study recently that seemed to showed - "Former professional footballers are three and a half times more likely to suffer from dementia and other serious neurological diseases "





Correlation is not necessary causation and also the ball / speed has changed so much in the last 20 years so we have to wait another X years to see the impact of playing now.

That being said, they are aware that impacts to an underdeveloped brain are more risky than a developed. We don't really want kids under 12 booting the ball and chasing, its best to keep the ball on the ground with smaller sized games. Whats the problem in doing this if it reduces the risk of dementia in the future.

They are comparing the cause of death from all the way back to 1900? Did they take in any other contributing factors? Clearly all the players would have been male, were the 23,000 other deaths all male too, what age were they at death?
 
They are comparing the cause of death from all the way back to 1900? Did they take in any other contributing factors? Clearly all the players would have been male, were the 23,000 other deaths all male too, what age were they at death?
Read the independent article a lot of that is covered. Including the fact professionals lived longer.
 
The future of football
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Come on - they’re only trying to prevent little kids dying of brain related diseases later in life.

It’s only for under 11s and it doesn’t apply in matches. What’s wrong with allowing children to develop their ball skills first? There’s plenty of time to learn how to head a ball properly later in their development, and if kids want to practise heading on their own they’ll find a cheap, lightweight, plastic ball and a wall - like we all did.

It’s a lot of fuss about nothing imo.

IF that's where they stop fine, but since when did they ever stop there?
By the time they are banning it from mens football and the professional game it will too late, the debate will have been had as far as their concerned.
 
IF that's where they stop fine, but since when did they ever stop there?
By the time they are banning it from mens football and the professional game it will too late, the debate will have been had as far as their concerned.

There’s a bit of a leap from banning it for 10 year olds in training, and banning it from the professional game wouldn’t you say? Just because they banned conkers doesn’t mean one can’t pursue a career as a heavyweight boxer.
 
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Come on - they’re only trying to prevent little kids dying of brain related diseases later in life.

It’s only for under 11s and it doesn’t apply in matches. What’s wrong with allowing children to develop their ball skills first? There’s plenty of time to learn how to head a ball properly later in their development, and if kids want to practise heading on their own they’ll find a cheap, lightweight, plastic ball and a wall - like we all did.

It’s a lot of fuss about nothing imo.
Couldn’t agree more or have worded it better.
 
It's the head on head collisions when contesting a header they are trying to avoid. Delaying initial head trauma injuries can have a substantial benefit in long term health.

Then don’t allow kids to head to head challenge; if they do then call it obstruction but let it be known - all other heading situations are allowed.

As long as it’s only for the kids that 👌
 
Then don’t allow kids to head to head challenge; if they do then call it obstruction but let it be known - all other heading situations are allowed.

As long as it’s only for the kids that 👌
If that could be implemented it would be great, but during live action I can see how it can be a challenge, especially on things like corners.

This is only in training in the UK from the sounds of it, not matches. I think it's banned in matches in the US until the kids are 14 or something. I could look it up but I am lazy.
 
Come on - they’re only trying to prevent little kids dying of brain related diseases later in life.

It’s only for under 11s and it doesn’t apply in matches. What’s wrong with allowing children to develop their ball skills first? There’s plenty of time to learn how to head a ball properly later in their development, and if kids want to practise heading on their own they’ll find a cheap, lightweight, plastic ball and a wall - like we all did.

It’s a lot of fuss about nothing imo.

How dare you be rational
 
The header will definitely end up being banned sooner or later. I'm pretty sure of that. At least in training.
I don't think that's a terrible thing. According to the following article from the Beeb, footballers are 3.5 times more likely to die of dementia than the general population. We are literally paying to watch people give themselves brain damage.

I'm not sure how anyone (myself included) can square the circle that is paying Sky / BT to encourage people to hit each other in the head as hard as they possibly can, while accepting we should ban heading in football. But I suppose we can possibly separate them by saying lets start with the easiest challenges? Much like the "should other countries be doing something about the situation in Isreal and if so why not China" discussion. Maybe we should at least start to address the issues. That's at least better than closing your eyes, putting your fingers in your ears and singin lah lah lah.

 
The header will definitely end up being banned sooner or later. I'm pretty sure of that. At least in training.
I don't think that's a terrible thing. According to the following article from the Beeb, footballers are 3.5 times more likely to die of dementia than the general population. We are literally paying to watch people give themselves brain damage.

I'm not sure how anyone (myself included) can square the circle that is paying Sky / BT to encourage people to hit each other in the head as hard as they possibly can, while accepting we should ban heading in football. But I suppose we can possibly separate them by saying lets start with the easiest challenges? Much like the "should other countries be doing something about the situation in Isreal and if so why not China" discussion. Maybe we should at least start to address the issues. That's at least better than closing your eyes, putting your fingers in your ears and singin lah lah lah.

Not so sure if it will be outright banned, but I think heading from set pieces will be.
 
Can the modern balls cause as much damage as the balls of yesteryear? They are so lightweight now, probably don't become even heavier when wet, and no laces, which could cut a player's head. These days, I think most head injuries are when players come together in a collision.
I think it's fair enough to ban it from kids' games, but not so much at adult level.
 
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