When Do Young Soccer Players Risk Head Injuries?

Nikki Attkisson | Last Updated : July 28, 2021

According to tiny, exploratory research, teenage soccer participants suffer more head hits throughout training yet have higher serious head injuries during matches. As per the scientists, the results can aid in the development of methods to increase head form protection in child soccer.

“Headers are a fundamental component to the sport of soccer. Therefore, it is important to understand differences in header frequency and magnitude across practice and game settings,” stated lead researcher Jillian Urban, of Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C.

“Practices are more amenable to change than games. Therefore, understanding how we can restructure practice to reduce head impact exposure while teaching fundamental skills needed to safely play the sport is critical to improving head impact safety in the sport,” in a press statement from the American Academy of Neurology, Urban added.

When Do Young Soccer Players Risk Head Injuries?

The players have to move quickly on the ground due to the game and such head injuries are quite common. However, in some cases, the players have to suffer from injuries that can create issues with the brain and other parts. In most of the cases, the players easily recover from such injuries but in some cases, this leads to hospitalization of the players also which can lead them to live the game also.

Her research group accompanied 8 soccer players between the age groups of fourteen and fifteen for 2 seasons. During all practices and sports, each playmaker wore a custom-fitted mouthpiece sensor, as well as the scientists utilized a time-synchronized webcam to document all actions on the ground as well as identify head effects.

The researchers of the research kept a record of the number of hits each participant each hour and the quantity of time soccer participants spent on various activities throughout practices and games. Headform levels varied from 0.5 per participant Hr to 13.7 per player hourly depending on the activity.

When Do Young Soccer Players Risk Head Injuries?

Professional exercises like hitting the foot developing ball-handling and dribbling are linked to 13.7 head-form rates per participant hour on the median. Small-sided matches in practice resulted in a mean of 0.5 head collisions per participant per hour, whereas matches resulted in 1.3 head hits per participant per hour.

The scientists also looked at mean rotating head motion, which was recorded in radians per short sleeves by the scientists. Vocational training had an average amplitude of 550 rad/s2, whereas group engagement had a mean magnitude of 910 rad/s2 and sports had a mean intensity of 1,490 rad/s2.

The results would be discussed at the Sports Concussion Conference of the American College of Neurology on July 30-31. Until it is released in a peer-reviewed journal, such work is considered preliminary.

“If the goal is to reduce the number of head impacts a young soccer player may get on the field, our findings suggest the best way may be to target technical training drills and how they are distributed within a season,” said Urban. “However, if the goal is to reduce the likelihood of players sustaining head impacts of greater magnitude, then the best bet may be to look at factors associated with high-magnitude head impacts that can occur during scrimmages and games.”

You Might Also Read: Customer Reviews On MetaboFix Pro

The goal of this research is to establish the frequency, hazard, or comparative probability of concussions in middle school and high college players who participated in a variety of sports. Concussion risk was shown to be prevalent in high youths, women, someone with a diagnosis of trauma, and those engaged in high-contact sports. The findings highlight concerns about preventative methods and concussion care in juvenile sports and inspire the confidence of brain trends in young athletes.


Nikki Attkisson

With over 15 years as a practicing journalist, Nikki Attkisson found herself at Powdersville Post now after working at several other publications. She is an award-winning journalist with an entrepreneurial spirit and worked as a journalist covering technology, innovation, environmental issues, politics, health etc. Nikki Attkisson has also worked on product development, content strategy, and editorial management for numerous media companies. She began her career at local news stations and worked as a reporter in national newspapers.

Sign Up For Our Daily Dose Of Hot News