The United States Soccer Federation has adopted a new policy prohibiting children under the age of 11 from heading balls, and in turn resolves a class-action lawsuit brought last year by former child athletes.
New guidelines announced by the organization this week are intended to reduce the number of concussions among youth soccer players.
In adopting the policy change, the group will settle a federal class-action suit filed last year by attorneys representing former youth soccer players who said that the Fédération Internationale de Football Association and U.S soccer leagues had failed to to adequately protect young players from head injuries.
“We filed this litigation in effort to focus the attention of U.S. Soccer and its youth member organizations on the issue of concussions in youth soccer,” lead class attorney Steven Berman said in a statement. “With the development of the youth concussion initiative by U.S. Soccer and its youth members, we feel we have accomplished our primary goal and, therefore, do not see any need to continue the pursuit of the litigation. We are pleased that we were able to play a role in improving the safety of the sport for soccer-playing children in this country.”
The suit alleged that “Certain injuries, or the impacts from them, are preventable and the governing soccer authorities have the power to enact and enforce rules that would prevent or minimize injuries.”
International soccer rules adhered to by major youth leagues in the U.S. had limited the number of times players can be substituted per game and penalized team who pulled athletes in order to have them evaluated for concussions.
Only leagues that operate under the auspices of U.S. Soccer, including “youth national teams and academies, including Major League Soccer youth club teams,” will be affected by the change, the New York Times reported. The new regulations, once implemented, will ban those leagues from letting players age 10 and younger from heading the ball and will also reduce how often the technique is taught to children ages 11 through 13.
Additionally, the United States Soccer Federation has agreed to ramp up its effort to educate players, coaches and parents with respect to concussions and will require a health care professional to be present at all development academy matches to make decisions regarding head injuries.
“I am happy to see that U.S. Soccer is taking steps to protect the players and making the game safer than it was when I played,” said Rachel Mehr, a former youth athlete and co-plaintiff in the suit.
“While there is always more that can be done to keep our youths safe, I am confident that this agreement will help reduce the risk of concussion on the soccer field and provide the necessary tools to properly address a situation in which a head injury occurs,” co-plaintiff Kira Akka-Seidel said in a statement, the Associated Press reported.
Other countries won’t necessarily be taking America’s lead, however. Football Federation Australia said in response this week that it will continue to monitor research on the role of headers with regards to concussions, the Sydney Morning Herald reported, but won’t be enforcing any bans at this time.
A study of high school athletes published earlier this year in the Journal of the American Medical Association determined that headers had caused the highest proportion of concussions in boys (30 percent) and girls (25 percent) who play youth soccer.
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