Clubs hit by parents’ fears over heading
PARENTS of children on the books of at least three Premier League academies have expressed concerns to coaches about the effects of repeatedly heading the ball.
Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane said this week that players should ‘play chess’ if they are worried about brain damage caused by heading. He was responding to a question about the retirement of Irish striker Kevin Doyle due to repeated concussion.
Doyle, who currently remains in the United States where he has spent t he l ast t wo years with Colorado Rapids, is coming to terms with the fact his playing career is suddenly and unexpectedly over.
His retirement reflects the worries of parents of young players and highlights the urgent need for research into whether there are links between heading the ball and concussion or the degenerative disease chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Manchester City club doctor Matthew Brown said that concussion is ‘a massive issue’ which parents of academy players aged eight to 12 are concerned about.
‘At Manchester City we have a philosophy of football. We play beautiful football,’ Brown told the Associated Press this week. ‘There isn’t a lot of heading. I am not going to say there isn’t ever any heading because obviously there is. But what I do is… get the parents in, talk to them about it.
‘To any concerns they may have and the hypothetical risk of links to dementia at an early age, I say [that] as a club we are doing everything we can to both limit heading, diagnose, assess, manage and rehabilitate head injuries.
‘One thing I would say to these parents is there is no [proven] links. Yes, people are talking about it. In the future will they ever prove a link? I don’t know. We’ve done a bit of work with experts around the country and they’ve said at the moment there’s no exact link between heading the ball and concussion or CTE.’
In the United States, heading for under 11s has been banned because of the possible risk.
In February, aU E FA- commissioned research project was launched, aimed at helping establish the risk posed to young players during matches and training sessions. One Premier League club is involved in that study.
JOSH ONOMAH bounded out of the Riverside Stadium after lighting up Friday’s Euro 2019 Under-21s qualifier against Scotland. The 20-year-old Tottenham midfielder (right), on loan at Aston Villa, scored from 25 yards to set England on the way to a 3-1 win and the the top of Group 4.
England have played in all the finals since 2007 but do not do well once they get there. But Onomah says: ‘We can go further than past teams. I won the Euros at Under-17s and the World Cup at 20s. For that experience I feel we can push on for the Under-21s in two years time. Those wins suggest something better for the future.’
Aidy Boothroyd’s side play Andorra away on Tuesday and he is likely to make changes, with Tom Davies, hoping for his chance. ‘It is up to me to show I’m good enough to play at this level,’ says the 19-year-old Everton midfielder.’