February 14 – A former England midfielder has called for a ban on children heading footballs to be introduced
Ryan Mason, who played for Tottenham Hotspur and Hull City, was forced to retire a year ago at the age of 27 after suffering a fractured skull during an aerial challenge in a Premier League game against Chelsea 13 months earlier.
In the United States, under-11s are outlawed from heading by the US Soccer Federation and Mason would like to see similar rules apply in the UK.
“If you have got a seven- or eight-year-old heading a solid ball, and his brain and his bone in his skull isn’t fully developed, then that could potentially be doing damage,” Mason, now a youth coach, told the BBC.
“I look at some kids and they head the ball with the top of the head and their technique is all wrong, therefore the pressure that it’s putting on the brain is a lot more. I don’t think kids should be heading real balls.”
“Maybe bring in sponge balls to learn the technique and gain that experience of actually challenging for a header.
“I don’t think repetitive heading at a young age is doing the kids any good, that’s for sure.
“America is probably more advanced than England in terms of research, and they’ve taken the measure of actually banning it up to a certain age. So maybe we can follow those footsteps over here to protect our young kids.”
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