LAST year, when I was covering the Pro Life UK Football for Life Tournament in Dumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur, I was hit by a football at the back of my head while taking photos at the sidelines.
I almost fell on the ground and in a split of a second I could not hear anything and actually saw stars surrounding my head. I thought I would collapse. I gathered myself and looked around but stayed on my feet.
My head was painful but the pain slowly eased and I took a deep breath.
The 16-year-old kid that kicked the ball that hit me came to me and apologized.
It was the first time I got hit by a football that hard. I was lucky I stayed on my feet, did not fall, and did not suffer any concussion.
But there are thousands of kids all over the world every year who suffer from brain injuries after getting hit by a football, kicked or punched on their heads.
According to the CNN Vital Signs program of Doctor Sanjay Gupta, 35,000 persons in the United States (US) alone suffer from sports-related concussions every year and most of them young football players.
I was lucky I did not suffer any concussion after that incident in Dumalinao. Wikipedia defines concussion as a type of traumatic brain injury that is caused by a blow to the head or body, a fall or another injury that jars or shakes the brain inside the scull.
Now, there is a move in the US to eliminate headers for players 14 years and below to cut the number of players suffering from concussions.
Retired American soccer star and now ESPN lead soccer analyst Taylor Twelman is leading the “Safer Soccer” campaign.
He joins a long list of US soccer legends supporting this move to ban headers among young players.
Twellman is taking the lead because his career was cut short after suffering a concussion. They want to implement this to eliminate concussions among young players and interestingly to improve the skills of young American players.
They argue that once headers are eliminated, the young players can concentrate in playing football on the ground. By playing football on the ground not on the air, the players will dramatically increase their touches and improve their skills.
Young players learn to head the football as early as six years old. Imagine how delicate the brain of a six-year-old is. Imagine how much damage headers could do from age six to 14.
Fifa, the world football governing body has not said anything about this plan but officials have insisted that they have also introduced policies in their matches to help cut concussions among players. One of such policy is by not allowing a player who gets a knock on the head or who suffers a fall to continue to play unless the match doctor allows him.
If this “Safer Soccer” movement gets the approval by Soccer USA, it will impact the beautiful game the US. Since the rest of the world does not care about concussions, the development of the game in the US would definitely suffer.
As a football parent, I am not worried every time my 11-year-old plays. I am more worried when he drives the car around the village.
(l.biantan@gmail.com)