Scott Atherley is a soccer coach. He just completed his 17th season directing the University of Maine women’s team.
He is also the father of three soccer players: Bangor High School junior standout and tri-captain Carson Atherley and daughters Teagan, who is 8, and Kyelin, who is 6.
The coach applauds this week’s decision by the United States Soccer Federation to prohibit players age 10 and younger from heading the ball. The USSF has also mandated that teams reduce headers in practice for youngsters ages 11-13.
The initiative is designed to address and prevent head injuries in the sport.
The regulations will be mandatory for USSF youth national teams and academies but the rules will only be recommendations for other soccer associations not under USSF control, according to a New York Times report, which pointed out that nearly 50,000 high school soccer players suffered concussions in 2010, more players than in baseball, basketball, softball and wrestling combined.
“What we’re establishing is creating parameters and guidelines with regards to the amount of exposure (to potential head injuries),” said George Chiampas, U.S. Soccer’s chief medical officer.
Husson University men’s coach Jeff Gettler, Bangor High boys coach Billy Shannon and Hermon High School girls coach M.J. Ball are also in favor of measures that are designed to prevent head trauma, but all four also noted that heading is part of the game.
Shannon is the director the Seacoast United/Black Bear soccer club program and said even though their program falls under the umbrella of the U.S. Club Soccer, which is separate from the USSF, they tend to adhere to USSF guidelines.
“Developmentally, based on what we know about concussions and their long-term effects, it makes a lot of sense,” said Atherley. “It’s a good thing.”
“If it has been proven scientifically, I’m all for it,” said Gettler, who has been a head coach at the college level for 39 years. “We have to do everything we can to prevent concussions and the onset of head trauma.”
However, he admitted he wasn’t sure how much of a difference this would make.
“Like any contact sport, any time a player suffers trauma or repeated collisions involving their heads, it’s not good for the athlete,” Shannon said.
But Shannon said he wasn’t sure youngsters 10 and under would have enough opportunities to head the ball for it to make a “significant impact.”
He also warned that by eliminating heading at that age group, youngsters wouldn’t learn proper heading technique and it could lead to injury if they try to head the ball during a game.
“My only problem with the policy is they are taking away one of the most fundamental ways to score goals,” said Ball. “It’s part of the game.”
The coaches also stressed that concussions often result from players whacking their heads together while trying to head a ball, not the actual heading of the ball.
“I have never seen a head injury or concussion result from someone heading the ball. Typically, you get a head injury from two players cracking heads, an elbow hitting a head or the head hitting the ground when they land,” Ball said.
Medical experts also differ on how the most concussions occur.
In an article by BBC health reporter Michelle Roberts from 2011, Dr. Michael Lipton of the Montefiore Medical Center in New York discovered during a clinical trial that players who headed the ball 1,000 or more times a year showed signs of mild traumatic brain injury on their brain scans. There were 32 volunteers involved.
But Dr. Andrew Rutherford from the School of Psychology at Keele University, who had researched the possible damage created by heading for several years, wasn’t convinced by the findings.
Like Ball, Rutherford suspected most head trauma was created by the clashing of heads.
All four coaches were adamant that youngsters must be taught proper heading technique.
Atherley has used a soft Nerf ball to teach heading to youngsters, and Shannon said he has used balloons and beach balls to instruct youngsters the proper technique without sustaining head trauma.
Gettler said he likes to use underinflated balls when his team is doing a heading drill because it reduces the head trauma.
He also prefers an underinflated ball during games because it promotes skill.
“The ball should be headed with the hairline on the forehead and players should attack the ball to establish the force on the ball rather than allow the force of the ball to impact them,” said Atherley.
He has observed that youngsters can be apprehensive about heading so they wind up “closing their eyes and contacting the ball with the wrong part of the head: the top of their head or their nose.”
He said by using a Nerf ball, it gives the youngsters “a lot more confidence” heading a ball and it helps them “keep their eyes open and establish the correct contact points.”
Ball said it helps to have players “strengthen their neck muscles” in addition to teaching them the proper technique.
One type of ball that can cause a significant impact with the head is a punt from the goalkeeper.
But Shannon pointed out that the Seacoast United/Black Bear club instructs the goalkeepers not to punt the ball unless they absolutely have to.
However, it isn’t so much that they are trying to prevent headers.
“We want our players to play the ball out of the back with short passes,” said Shannon. “We want them to learn how to receive and pass the ball. We don’t want our goalies punting the ball so one of our fast forwards can run it down and score.”
Atherley said they are using lighter soccer ball these days and that is beneficial.
“Forty years ago, when I was a kid, they used leather balls and when they’d get wet, they’d feel like they weighed 25 pounds,” quipped Atherley. “But the balls today travel a lot faster.”