British scientist warns heading soccer balls ‘not safe for children’
As youth soccer camps all over the world report an increase in membership since the World Cup ended, one of Britain’s leading neuroscientists is issuing a warning about one aspect of the game.
Dr. Michael Grey, who works at the University of Birmingham's School of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences, told England's Sky News that he and “many of [his] colleagues” believed it was not safe for children to head the ball.
“The reason for that is two-fold. First, the neck muscles aren't yet developed for the size of the children's head at that age," Grey said. "The other reason is that their brains are still developing so they're still in a very vulnerable period for taking a blow to the head, and I should say these concussive events, we don't yet know if repetitive injury such as this is safe for professionals either.”
On Sunday, The Independent reported that England's Football Association does not see a link between heading and brain damage.
But the family of Jeff Astle, who played more than 350 games for West Bromwich Albion in the 1960s and ‘70s, disagrees.
The paper says that earlier this year, a pathologist found that Astle died in 2002 from an “industrial disease” – brain damage clearly linked to heading a heavy ball throughout his career.
Astle's daughter Dawn, who was to meet FA chairman Greg Dyke Sunday, told Sky: “We know what killed dad, the coroner's court said it was industrial disease: heading footballs killed dad and the Football Association just don't acknowledge it.
“We have real worries, not just for current footballers, and of course not just professionals - we're talking about amateurs as well - but about football's future, about the children in the game."