Reply to BBC: Heading soccer balls "affects memory"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Look, USA-bashers -- you may think you're more sophisticated than your neighbors who don't have accents. You're not. You're stuck in the 1980s. Your knowledge of pre-Premier League English football history doesn't amount to a hill of beans when it comes to modern understanding of the game.

Nor can you simply scoff that players are injured only in collisions, not the act of heading the ball itself. The neurological consensus is that young players who don't have fully developed skulls and neck muscles are at risk for long-term damage from subconcussive blows.

If you have a refutation of that consensus, please do share it.

In the meantime, if you don't think UEFA and FIFA are taking this issue seriously, just wait. [/quote]

I hope you are right that they are taking the issue seriously. I think I mostly agree with you but wanted to clarify a couple of points. About USA soccer, I do think bashing is somewhat appropriate, but the weaknesses are generally a lack of skill with the ball at their feet, movement without the ball, and speed of ball movement. None of these have anything to do with heading. 
About neurological consensus, I agree with you, but I don't think it is limited to your claim. The study in question was done in adults. So, I agree that subconcussive blows are important, and that the risks that they pose to children are important, but I think that the science, though open, is heading in the direction that these impacts might be important for adults too. 
At least soccer is not a lost cause. I'm convinced that there is no way to play football safely. Soccer could just eliminate heading, and though the game would change in a number of ways, it would still be recognizable as soccer. [/quote]

All true.

There's plenty of room to bash the USA, but it's nowhere near as simple as some people like to pretend. And heading? It's what the USA does well! Think Brian McBride or Abby Wambach.[/quote]

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