3-3-16
I am bothered greatly.
Ok, it isn’t as bad as the idea of Trump being elected.
Sure, there are way worse issues the world is facing right now, and ultimately,
it isn’t going to really even affect that many folks out there. But it does
matter to me and specifically my child.
Is that enough of a build up? Ha! US Soccer had semi
recently come out in favor of not only disallowing heading the ball in games,
but they will not train or encourage the practice until a kid is in U14.
Heading the ball is a large component in soccer. Professionals do this move a
fair amount and it is what many kids in the sport find thrilling, especially
when you have a boy like Dax who not only practices proper technique, but has
actually scored a goal because of his skills. Youth soccer isn’t skilled enough
to keep the ball more to the ground, which is where you will have the most
control when you have possession.
The ruling has now made it into AYSO. It means that our fall
season will be the first time in which a team will be issued an indirect kick
if the opposing team heads the ball. I understand that the reason behind this
change is the rampant conversation concerning concussions (say that three times
fast) in all sports. The studies indicate that although heading doesn’t always
cause a concussion, it can exacerbate an existing injury.
In my years in soccer, which is plentiful, I have not seen
one kid get a concussion from heading a ball. I haven’t seen someone show symptoms
of concussion after continually heading the ball. I have seen multiple rolled
ankles. I have seen kids run into unpadded goal posts. I have seen kids almost
get kicked in the face because they didn’t head the ball but instead kicked
their foot up higher to get the ball (which is what I expect will happen more
and more with this new ruling). I have seen a broken arm due to a bicycle kick
(yeah, Dax, that will most likely haunt me forever). But heading the ball has
NEVER been an issue.
I know, I only played for like 10 years. I have been
involved with the boys for the past 5. Maybe I just haven’t been privy to an
incident like this. And maybe kids are getting hurt from heading wrong. But
this solution is right up there with the idea of abstinence or prohibition;
removing the situation doesn’t fix the problem. It would make more sense to
make a point of training kids at an earlier age. And to be perfectly honest, I
am fine with not doing this until the kids get to the age in which the games
are considered competitive. That would be the U10 age group. This is the age in
which they keep score. They can go on to championship matches. They can advance
all the way to State tournaments. Why in the world would you remove a
fundamental skill set from these kids, many of whom have aspirations of playing
this sport well into their high school days and if not farther. By eliminating
proper training and just issuing a lockdown on the practice, you are robbing
these children of truly learning the game.
Are we going to take out tackling in football? Well, and let’s
get rid of pitching the ball to kids in baseball lest a ball smack a kid in the
head. Oh, and might as well remove all playground equipment from the
playground. That is clearly a death trap for all those involved.
Look, I know perhaps I am making a big deal out of something
minor, but I am finding the watering down of kid activities is getting completely
out of hand. I was already an opponent to the reduction of players on the field
for soccer matches. The standard player count is 11 on the field. I played this
from my very first game. We all learned proper positions. We knew to have zones
for everything from placement to defense. We learned THE GAME. Now, it has been
broken down into only a certain amount of players per game depending on the age
group. There isn’t even a goalie until kids have been in the program for close
to 3 years if they started at U5. It is absurd to continue to assume kids can’t
handle the real deal.
It isn’t a secret that more and more people are concerned
with the way our society keeps coddling our kids. Dax got a participation award
for being in the Jog-A-Thon. He didn’t run. He didn’t walk. He sat, and
occasionally cheered. He was miserable. Sure, it’s sweet that they would reward
him for being out there, but he didn’t participate! And yet the school also has
this poor kid sitting on a bench in front of the office at recess. He isn’t
supposed to run around due to his arm, but he isn’t able to even be around the
other kids on the benches out there? How is that healthy for him? He can’t
socialize by himself. And there are monitors out on the playground that could
easily keep an eye on kids on the bench. Truly, this is all incredibly
backwards.
I truly have no voice in any of this, which I suppose is a
lot of where my frustration is centered from. I feel like as an organization we
have a responsibility to train these kids correctly, and that may in fact mean
more extensive training for coaches. It also means parents need to just
understand risks involved with sports in general. I can assure you, children
are pretty resilient and they are more likely to be injured doing a number of
things before you get to “heading a soccer ball”. At this rate, how long before
they have to be in bubble wrap before they go on the field?
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