When can kids header in soccer?
William Rodriguez
Published Jan 18, 2026
Children under the age of 12 have been banned from heading footballs during training. Players will be allowed to use their heads during matches, but headers will be banned in practice or training sessions.
What age can kids header?
If children are permitted to head the ball between the ages of 12 and 18, this means six years of damaging behaviour. Children are not able to make informed decisions and need to be protected. There is no logical reason for the ban on heading footballs in training to stop at the age 12. Headers can wait until 18.
What age can you head in soccer?
The Federation is recommending, and US Club Soccer is requiring immediately, new rules as it relates to heading, as follows: Players in 11-U programs and younger shall not engage in heading, either in practices or in games. Limited heading in practice for players in 12-U and 13-U programs.
Can kids head the ball in soccer?
The heading of the ball was banned in the US, for children aged 10 and under, after a lawsuit was filed against the US Soccer Federation by a group of concerned parents and players.
Is it safe to head a soccer ball?
Heading in soccer can increase your risk of concussions. Over time, repeated subconcussive injuries can also accumulate and cause brain damage.
18 related questions foundCan heading a soccer ball cause CTE?
The greater number of high-energy head impacts while playing football, as compared to soccer, result in a bigger risk of injury and consequent CTE. Hitting the ball with the head in soccer is called “heading”; these repetitive impacts also can injure the brain.
How long after hitting head can concussion symptoms start?
"For some people, the symptoms after a concussion may not become apparent until later in the day,” says Beth Kolar, advanced clinician at Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital, part of Main Line Health, who explains that delayed concussion symptoms may present 24 to 48 hours after and injury.
Do headers in soccer cause brain damage?
It seems unlikely that subconcussive impacts such as seen in head to ball contact will cause chronic neurological injury. Although head to head contact may cause concussive injury, it is both uncommon and unlikely to result in cumulative brain injury.
Are headers banned?
First-ever football match with heading banned set to take place later this month. Football's first match with heading banned will take place later this month as ex-pros tackle dementia. Headers have been linked to dementia, and Premier League clubs have taken the step to limit the number of headers per week in training ...
Are headers allowed in high school soccer?
Players 11 to 13 are allowed to head the ball in games but are limited to no more than 30 minutes of practice time heading the ball and no more than 15 to 20 headers during that time each week.
Should headers be banned?
Footballs should be sold with a health warning that repeated heading can lead to a higher dementia risk, says Professor Willie Stewart, who discovered headers can leave professional football defenders five times more likely to die of dementia than the general public.
Will headers be banned in football?
Indeed, even campaigners for change make clear they are not advocating headers to be banned. Yet as solid evidence has emerged from scientific research linking heading a ball to increased risk of neurodegenerative brain disease, there is a swell of people calling for the practice to be reanalysed.
Can heading a football cause brain damage?
A leading study on football from Glasgow University, published in 2019, discovered that former football players are three-and-a-half times more likely to die of neurogenerative disease than age-matched members of the public; and were more likely to be prescribed dementia-related medication.
Can kids header a ball?
The current guidelines don't stop children from heading the ball in matches, but they do forbid heading the ball as part of training until the age of 12 – when it is gradually introduced. These measures do not go far enough.
Can footballers head the ball?
Approximately 1-5% of injures in football are related to concussion. However, the growing concern with footballers is the effect of repetitively heading the ball, which does not cause concussion, but may result in subtle changes in brain function that are not detected.
Why is heading banned?
Heading in football could be outlawed in 10 years' time in a bid to reduce the risk of brain injuries in players, according to Accrington manager John Coleman. The 58-year-old described banning heading completely as a "drastic solution" but believes it could progress from children's football into the professional game.
What sport has highest rate of concussion?
What they found was that the following three sports had the highest concussion rates per 10,000 athlete exposures:
- Boys' football, with 10.4 head injuries.
- Girls' soccer, with 8.19 concussions.
- Boys' ice hockey, with 7.69 concussions.
What sport causes the most brain damage?
The following sports/recreational activities represent the categories contributing to the highest number of estimated head injuries treated in U.S. hospital emergency rooms in 2018.
- Horseback Riding: 6,141.
- Golf: 6,357.
- Hockey: 7,668.
- Trampolines: 8,956.
- Rugby/Lacrosse: 10,901.
- Skating: 7,143.
- Playground Equipment: 38,915.
Who is the king of header in football?
In the current season, the “king” of headers is Leonardo Pavoletti, who has already scored 9 headed goals. Mexico City, Sunday 21 June 1970. The Azteca stadium is filled with 112,000 people.
How do you know if a 2 year old has a concussion?
Concussion Signs In Children Aged 2+
- Dizziness or balance problems.
- Double or blurry vision.
- Sensitivity to light and noise.
- Zoning out or daydreaming.
- Difficulty concentrating and remembering recent events, confusion.
- Mood changes – such as irritability, anxiety, sadness, or nervousness.
How do I know if my child's head injury is serious?
Moderate to severe head injury
- lose consciousness.
- be drowsy and not respond to your voice.
- be dazed or shocked.
- not cry straight after the knock to the head (younger children)
- be confused, have memory loss or loss of orientation about place, time or the people around them.
- experience visual disturbance.
What are 5 signs of a concussion?
- Headache or “pressure” in head.
- Nausea or vomiting.
- Balance problems or dizziness, or double or blurry vision.
- Bothered by light or noise.
- Feeling sluggish, hazy, foggy, or groggy.
- Confusion, or concentration or memory problems.
- Just not “feeling right,” or “feeling down”.
Should heading the ball in soccer be banned?
The most common mechanisms for a concussion are player-to-player contact (head-to-head, head-to-body) and head-to-ground contact2. This means that banning purposeful heading would only have a small impact on reducing concussions in youth soccer.
Does heading the ball hurt?
But playing with your head can hurt your brain. The technique known as “heading” causes damage to the brain's white matter, and it does more damage to women than it does to men, according to research on amateur soccer players presented this week at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.
Do you lose brain cells when you head a ball?
When a person is hit in the head, the brain bounces back and forth in the skull, the researchers explain, which can lead to damaged brain cells and even damage to surrounding tissue. Such an impact can break nerve fibers called axons or connective cell tissue called synapses.