Head injuries a concern for youth
Parents and kids worry about sport’s long-term effects.
Earning a place LONDON — in a Premier League club’s academy offers an irresistible path to fame, glory and wealth. Parents, though, are becoming increasingly aware of the potential health risks their children will be exposed to.
At Manchester City, offering reassurance and trying to allay concerns about any long-term brain damage caused by blows to the head now starts long before a professional contract is on offer.
“When we have young academy players — and we are talking 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 — we get the parents in and talk to them about it,” City club doctor Matthew Brown told The Associated Press. “Concussion is a massive issue.”
Just last week, Ireland forward Kevin Doyle retired from soccer after complaining of repeated headaches from heading the ball and concussions while playing for the Colorado Rapids in Major League Soccer. It was a preventative measure by the 34-year-old former Premier League player to try and avoid permanent damage.
Doctors have yet to verify definitive links between impacts to the brain and the early onset of dementia within soccer players, and Ireland assistant coach Roy Keane was dismissive of Doyle’s anxieties on Tuesday.
“If you’re worried about the physical side of any sport, then play chess,” Keane said. “It is part of the game, players picking up injuries. (Doyle) is a center forward, and he gets a few knocks from center backs. I’m sure he has given out a few himself.”
A notoriously tough midfielder during his playing career with Manchester United and Ireland, Keane is trying to protect the game’s physicality. Governing bodies, though, realize they cannot be indifferent if football is to blame for retired players suffering from degenerative brain diseases.
In research published this year, six of 14 former players were found to have signs of Alzheimer’s disease after their brains underwent post-mortem examinations. The Football Association and Professional Footballers’ Association in England are stepping up the research being undertaken, and the way Alzheimer’s or memory loss have afflicted several members of England’s 1966 World Cup-winning squad has sharpened the need to investigate.
Geoff Hurst, who scored a hat trick in England’s 4-2 win over West Germany in the 1966 final, will launch an Alzheimer’s Society walk next week to raise awareness.
“Dementia is becoming one of the most serious illnesses and it is increasing,” Hurst said. He believes Martin Peters, the other scorer for England in the 1966 final, would no longer recognize him.
“If you have a physical disease, or a broken leg, you can recover from it and get better in time,” Hurst said, but “with dementia it only goes one way, albeit at different levels.”
Families of fledgling players are starting to take note of the risks. Manchester City’s medical team tell parents of academy entrants that the playing style championed throughout the club by firstteam manager Pep Guardiola — keeping the ball on the ground — isn’t just aesthetically pleasing. It’s safer too, according to the team’s doctor.
“When I speak to the parents of these young kids about concussion and any concerns they may have and the hypothetical risk of links to dementia at an early age, I say to them ‘as a club we are doing everything we can to both limit heading, (and) diagnose, assess, manage and rehabilitate head injuries,’ ” Brown said.
In 2015, the U.S. Soccer Federation recommended a ban on headers for players 10 and younger in a bid to address concerns about the impact of head injuries. The United States has also seen a $1 billion settlement between the NFL and thousands of its former players who have been diagnosed with brain injuries linked to repeated concussions.
The family of former England striker Jeff Astle, whose death at age 59 in 2002 was attributed to repeatedly heading heavy, leather balls, has been pushing for better protection for modern players.
The priority for the Astle family has been convincing soccer to recognize the problem even exists.
“It is very encouraging that, for the most part, (soccer) is beginning to take the issue of concussion seriously and, along with more research, a cultural change is beginning to take place,” Peter McCabe, chief executive of the Headway brain injury association, said in response to Keane’s comments at the Ireland training camp.
“It is vital that we continue to conduct more research into the potential long-term implications of heading (soccer balls) to ensure people are able to make informed choices.”