BANNED: After 52 years, AYSO finally makes a new header rule.
By Emma Carson, Staff Writer
On November 6, 2015, the American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) released an article regarding new rules and regulations for children’s safety. The main point in the article was the new rule regulating headers: children ten and under are not allowed to engage in headers. Headers done in a game will be counted as a foul.
The article released stated that heading in soccer can cause brain damage and concussions, so children under the age of ten should not be encouraged to risk severe injury.
The AYSO is a volunteer organization, and some of the coaches are not trained to teach young children the skills that are needed to perform at their level. One of the most useful skills to have as a soccer player is knowing how to head the ball. Faulty instruction can affect children’s health and skill.
Since the rule has been released, there has been negative feedback from parents. Both sides are not happy, from those in disagreement saying headers should be allowed to angry parents agreeing with the heading rule, not satisfied. The parents in agreement take their children out of soccer anyway, because of many other fears of danger in the contact sport.
As a longtime soccer player, the only injuries I’ve suffered from playing in AYSO are a sprained ankle and several bruises. While there have been some occasions where I have hit the ball incorrectly on my head, I have never experienced a concussion. I wouldn’t blame my coaches for this because I was the one who decided to hit the ball with my head. I was taught when I was about eleven, so I believe the right age to teach children headers is around ten and only if they want to continue a career in soccer.
One of the biggest reasons why this rule is controversial is because of timing. Out of the 52 years AYSO has been running, it wasn’t until a few weeks ago the header rule came into play. Even Major League Soccer (MLS) was contemplating a requirement of wearing protective headbands two years earlier. The concussion rate in the MLS was higher, but this is a professional league. Children’s brains are still developing and these kids aren’t professionals. It hadn’t made sense to many people why grown men were being given more attention than developing children.
I think it is a smart idea to take headers out of the picture. This rule is a good way to reduce the number of concussions especially in a sport with a high risk. If these children want to continue on in soccer, they should be taught headers the right way, at a good age, by great coaches.