The sport, Soccer, is one of the world’s most popular sports and is played all over the world. With more and more teenagers playing soccer than ever before studies have raised concerns over the sport’s safety. One major part of skill used in the game is “heading the ball”. This may seem a harmless act at first, but recent scientific studies have revealed alarming results that may put the future of heading in doubt. According to The Week Magazine, a study by England’s Football Association discloses that heading the soccer ball can cause “chronic brian trauma”. A study was conducted by University College London’s neuropathologists who concluded that “heading the ball produces progressive brain damage and leads to heartbreaking dementia later in life”, as recorded in Business Insider Publication.
The study took fourteen retired Soccer players who died with complications of dementia. Twelve out
of the fourteen had advanced dementia and their symptoms began fifteen to twenty years after their retirement from the sport. The neuropathologists received permission to study some of the former soccer players and discovered that, “all six brains showed evidence of the abnormal tau protein accumulation typical of Alzheimer's dementia, and four of the six brains revealed the classic damage associated with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).” CTE is very common among boxers and football players and has recently been associated with soccer players. To learn more about CTE Click Here.
The danger that occurs with heading the ball comes from the speed at which the ball hits the player’s head. Some balls can travel “as high as 80 miles per hour, generating a force as high as 100 to 150 times the force of gravity”. When the ball hits the player’s head, the force leaves behind kinetic energy that bounces against the skull resulting in a bruise. As more and more bruises build up, the brain begins to develop brain trauma that leads to dementia later in life and the player may start to see signs of the symptoms. With all this new evidence coming to light concerning the safety of the players and the sport, could this be a game changer for soccer? What do you think will be done as a result of these findings? Do you think heading the ball should be banned in soccer games now?
The study took fourteen retired Soccer players who died with complications of dementia. Twelve out
of the fourteen had advanced dementia and their symptoms began fifteen to twenty years after their retirement from the sport. The neuropathologists received permission to study some of the former soccer players and discovered that, “all six brains showed evidence of the abnormal tau protein accumulation typical of Alzheimer's dementia, and four of the six brains revealed the classic damage associated with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).” CTE is very common among boxers and football players and has recently been associated with soccer players. To learn more about CTE Click Here.
The danger that occurs with heading the ball comes from the speed at which the ball hits the player’s head. Some balls can travel “as high as 80 miles per hour, generating a force as high as 100 to 150 times the force of gravity”. When the ball hits the player’s head, the force leaves behind kinetic energy that bounces against the skull resulting in a bruise. As more and more bruises build up, the brain begins to develop brain trauma that leads to dementia later in life and the player may start to see signs of the symptoms. With all this new evidence coming to light concerning the safety of the players and the sport, could this be a game changer for soccer? What do you think will be done as a result of these findings? Do you think heading the ball should be banned in soccer games now?
From Josh:
ReplyDeleteI think that they will just restrict the age at which you can head the ball. I think that some people if they change the rules won’t be very happy, they think it is fine to head. I think it shouldn’t be banned if they are still letting kids play tackle football at such a young age, heading the ball isn’t as bad as getting in helmet to helmet collisions.