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US Soccer’s youth heading limitations shouldn’t be shocking

By on November 11, 2015

Despite its continuous development, US Soccer has for understandable reasons been played in the shadow of its European and South American competitors with respect to the men’s side of the game. The US Men’s National Team have shown fairly well in major international competitions since hosting the World Cup in 1994, but stress has been placed upon the lack of American players plying their trade in the top leagues in the world, and there is no doubt that those are currently concentrated in Europe. Until recently, the US has typically prioritized players who are well-suited to an energetic, direct style of the play, though in reality those tactical decisions could have equally been the result of limited technically adept players at the coaches’ disposal.

Since Jurgen Klinsmann arrived as head coach of the national team in 2011, however, the entire US Soccer program has become hell-bent on modeling the US’ identity from the ground up to favor the more technical developmental systems across the pond. Recently, the federation implemented small-sided games and new possession-centric rules for the youngest youth soccer players in an strong effort to enforce a uniform playing style centered around the use of a Barcelona-brand of 4-3-3.

Over the past few days, however, US Soccer has stepped away in one respect from its Euro-centric path by attempting to reign in the practice of heading at younger ages in youth football. The issue of header-related injuries has been recognized worldwide, and the US has led the charge for change in the attitude towards children heading the ball, backed by a plethora of scientific research and personal experiences. Yesterday, they took a first step towards material change with a ban on heading for kids under the age of ten and limits on heading in practice for children aged eleven to thirteen.

These moves have been overblown by self-proclaimed soccer purists, as it is just a baby step to protect young children, and the rules only apply to the US Soccer’s Affiliated clubs and remain just recommendations for all other teams. “What we’re establishing is creating parameters and guidelines with regards to the amount of exposure” to potential head injuries, George Chiampas, U.S. Soccer’s chief medical officer, said per the New York Times. It’s not as harsh as some have concluded, for the sake of being able to enforce them.

We have come to a point, though, where it is logical to expect that more European clubs will start to follow suit, at least for their youth academies. As science changes in the area, so will policies, but the general motion is in place and the ball has been rolling for quite some time.

Comments sections of major newspapers are often depressing, vitriolic places to visit, but the responses to the header news have been surprisingly mature and nuanced, as sensible readers realize that protecting children from head trauma is perhaps worth the price of a tweak to the rules of a game that has tweaked its rule book many times before, and for far lesser reasons.

Yet it will be hard to enforce these rules until the general attitude towards heading shifts across the globe The US’s most exciting prospects might, and probably will, simply go home and practice headers after training, their argument being (a valid one at that), that a lack of heading skills puts them at a disadvantage on the international scale.

But at the moment, US Soccer’s immediate intentions aren’t to ban all heading; rather the goal is to limit young kids’ exposure to potentially dangerous situations in where heading may have previously encouraged. This is the misconception that many traditionalists are living under.

Proper heading techniques can and should be taught to young kids, however, traditionalists shouldn’t be able to hide behind this basis and go along their merry ways doing the exact same thing as they were before, which clearly puts many children as risk of concussions. They will also be quick to point out that many head injuries in youth and professional soccer occur in head-to-head incidents or others where heading plays no part; but often, it is the secondary hits from headers that can deal much, if not more damage than the original blow. Long-term exposure to headers has been proven over and over again to be dangerous, although to what extent is still debatable with proper techniques. But all of these facts rely on scientific data that has long been debated and will only become increasingly hot property over the coming years.

The traditionalist attitude towards heading is the only thing that is in need of change in the short-term. Across the board, from professional to youth soccer, heading is seen as something of an act of bravery and those who opt out are almost always subjected to unnecessary scorn. It has become something of a skill rather than the necessary tool it is. Feel free to yell at a professional player ducking from a header, it’s his job, but not some ten-year-old kid. Even major media outlets have run stories that glorify the act of heading in the wake of the US’ changes, with a distinct air of anti-Americanism in the background.

“Bravery can take many forms, including making yourself available for your teammates in tight spaces against an opponent that’s pressing well, not letting your head drop in the face of adversity, or making that defense-splitting, higher risk pass when you’re playing for [Louis] van Gaal. This notion that bravery is solely the reserve of the blood-and-thunder lot is so outdated,” wrote one astute commenter on The Guardian.

Worries over how these rules might effect the professional game in the long run should be welcomed as valid points, but the current measures shouldn’t be alarming by themselves. Players considering professional careers can certainly teach themselves the proper heading techniques from the age of eleven and on, yet before then, attempting to teach children to head the ball is an unnecessary risk that goes directly against where US Soccer’s identity is increasingly shifting towards.

Photo credit: Alasdair Middleton, via Flickr

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.