The world or the US has gone mad.

[newyankee]

 Well, it has finally happened, the world or the US has finally gone mad.   US Soccer  ( I hate that word), has come out and banned kids under 10 from heading a ball, and for those between 11 and 13 being banned in training but allowed in games.  What next, learn how to swim but you can't go in water to do it?

The US always wants to change rules to suit themselves, the next thing will be not being allowed to kick a ball  in case you break a toe.  I remember when Japan won the Women's World Cup on penalties the American press wanted penalties stopping as it was unfair.

 

[turnbull for england]

Well to be fair those mass games of headers school massacres needed stamping out , whoops my mistake that's guns isn't it, and they aren't banned .

[newyankee]

Exactly Turnbull, they are doing nothing to stop thirteen and fourteen year old's robbing at gun point and in many cases actually killing for a few dollars. But then again the ball manufacturers don't have a big enough lobby.

[Bristol Red Rover]

Their version of rugby gives an indication of where it's going. Get in there quick with the "NewYankie Soccer Heading Helmet".

[graingrover]

In CONTRAST, my nephew who lives in Los Angeles showed me a letter his 10 year old daughter brought home from school.. it went

  Dear parents,
                        we are seeing more and more children coming to class with a fire arm. Whilst we have not yet found a   loaded firearm we have to draw to your attention that in the event your child should kill someone whilst on school premises, under State law, you could be held co responsible and liable to a fine of up to $ 30,000.

                        ..

[newyankee]

 It definitely is a Mad, Mad, Mad world, graingrover.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Reminds me of the Italian Govt's genius way of reducing the carnage on their roads. Not insist on enforcing speed limits and ban people who drive like they've got a hornet in their kecks. No - just insist that drivers have their lights on in the day.

[graingrover]

I've never met a nation of people I like so much face to face and hate so much bumper to bumper ,as the Italians.

[BillyStubbsTears]

Agreed Graing. Jekyll & Hyde.

[Orlandokarla]

 Well, it has finally happened, the world or the US has finally gone mad.   US Soccer  ( I hate that word), has come out and banned kids under 10 from heading a ball, and for those between 11 and 13 being banned in training but allowed in games.  What next, learn how to swim but you can't go in water to do it?

The US always wants to change rules to suit themselves, the next thing will be not being allowed to kick a ball  in case you break a toe.  I remember when Japan won the Women's World Cup on penalties the American press wanted penalties stopping as it was unfair.

It has been coming for a while, NY.
Half a decade ago, I stopped coaching a co-ed football team after I was threatened with legal action if I continued to encourage/allow girls to JUMP for headers. Apparently, girls are so brittle that jumping can lead to all kinds of permanent damage.   
Yet American football and cheerleading are safe past-times....

[newyankee]

So is gymnastics Orlando, you see what happens if you get a back flip slightly wrong, broken neck !!!!!!

[red w(h)ine]

I'll bet we all headed heavy waterlogged footballs when we were young, and it hasn't done us any harm has it?
Hang on, it might explain many of the comments on here!

[newyankee]

Especially when you went up to head it and it struck you in the vitals, because it dropped quicker than you were able to react. I had that happen  at Bentley High Street school many moons and suns ago, it hurt a lot more than concussion.

[afro goal machine]

Reading the story on the bbc site, these changes have been brought in as s result of a law suit ???

On the positive side it will encourage the 10 year olds to play the ball to feet and on the ground

[red w(h)ine]

How come that before a game the back 4 will practice heading the ball out but the forwards never practice heading it in?

[DRNaith]

How come that before a game the back 4 will practice heading the ball out but the forwards never practice heading it in?

What's the ratio of headers scored against the total number of goals scored?

[red w(h)ine]

How come that before a game the back 4 will practice heading the ball out but the forwards never practice heading it in?

What's the ratio of headers scored against the total number of goals scored?

According to the following link
http://statsbomb.com/2013/07/how-do-headers-compare-to-shots/

that's a bit of a tricky question. The author includes a lot of stats and his summary is
"In writing this article I set out to determine how much less likely a header was to score than a shot.  Without adjusting for shot location headers are scored at a greater rate to those of shots.  However, in respect to this particular topic the devil is in the detail as we determined that when shots and headers that were struck from similar places were compared the conversion rate for headers was only approximately half of that for shots."

[PDX_Rover]

Compulsory Afros needed.

[Donny Dub]

You'd never head those old wet leather 'T' balls we had!
No one could even take a proper corner with one, never mind "bend it like Bekham".
Good luck.

[Spud]

Am I the only one who can see some logic in this?
Having coached my lads for 5 years, most of mine have always been fine heading a ball, one or two struggled if we did much heading in training sessions. They're all fine now & are currently 12 & 13.
Kids play a lot more footy than we ever did & obviously have softer bones. Not sure a ban is the answer but some common sense guidelines perhaps?

[stuey]

In a nation where a child can legally own a gun, but not a Kinder egg, nothing surprises me.

[BobG]

What's up with Kinder eggs Stuey? Are they lethal or something?

BobG

[PDX_Rover]

Yeah. Apparently the small parts. Or perhaps that scary Eggy eggy ad from the 80's

[stuey]

What's up with Kinder eggs Stuey? Are they lethal or something?

BobG

Apparently they're a 'choking hazard' and are illegal in the USA and you can be fined up to $2500 per egg for taking them into the country.

[hoolahoop]

Nothing surprises me about the Americans attitudes to sports. They play a game amongst themselves that they call the 'world series' and have spent years struggling to actually play the world's no.1 team sport and have a problem calling it by it's proper name. To think we spawned them it's embarrassing.
As someone said earlier it's fine to mess about with guns at any age......I don't get it . Why are they so backward. ?