Heading Footballs 'Not Safe For Children'

<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <h1 aria-label="Heading Footballs 'Not Safe For Children'" class="story__headline story__headline--normal" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 400; margin: 0px 0px 1rem; padding: 0px;"> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.25rem; line-height: 1.5rem;">A top neuroscientist says children's neck muscles are not developed enough and their brains are vulnerable to blows to the head.</span></h1> <br /> <section class="story__media" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><div class="module module--primary" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; width: 660px;"> <div class="module video" data-format-high="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/700/2014/08/100814CUPBALLDOWD061407652599842700.mp4" data-format-low="http://video.news.sky.com/video/h264/vod/374/2014/08/100814CUPBALLDOWD061407652599842374.mp4" style="box-sizing: border-box; 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margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">By Lisa Dowd, Sky Correspondent</span></div> <div class="story__intro" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">One of Britain's leading neuroscientists has said it may not be safe for children to head footballs - and that the impact of repetitive blows is still unknown for professional players.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dr Michael Grey, reader in Motor Neuroscience at the University of Birmingham's School of <a href="http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/sport-exercise/index.aspx" style="background-position: 0px 0px; border-bottom-color: rgb(203, 203, 203); border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 1px; box-sizing: border-box; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation Sciences</span></a>, told Sky News: "In my opinion, and I think I can say in the opinion of many of the colleagues with whom I work, it's probably not safe for children to be heading the ball.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The reason for that is two-fold. First, the neck muscles aren't yet developed for the size of the children's head at that age.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The other reason is that their brains are still developing so they're still in a very vulnerable period for taking a blow to the head, and I should say these concussive events, we don't yet know if repetitive injury such as this is safe for professionals either."</span></div> <div class="image image--inline" style="box-sizing: border-box; clear: both; margin: 0px auto 1em; max-width: 540px;"> <div class="image__wrapper image__wrapper--4x3" style="box-sizing: border-box; overflow: hidden; padding-bottom: 405px; position: relative;"> <img alt="" class="image__item js-responsive" data-breakpoint="" data-sizes="91x68 300x225 480x360" data-sizes-wide="" data-template="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/2/28/223862/default/v2/astle-1-{width}x{height}.jpg" src="http://media.skynews.com/media/images/generated/2013/2/28/223862/default/v2/astle-1-480x360.jpg" style="border: 1px solid rgb(220, 220, 220); box-sizing: border-box; display: block; height: 405px; max-width: 100%; page-break-inside: avoid; position: absolute; vertical-align: middle; width: 540px;" /></div> <div class="image__caption" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1.25rem; min-height: 40px; padding: 10px 8px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">West Bromwich Albion striker Jeff Astle died in 2002 from a brain disease</span></div> </div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">New Football Association (FA) guidelines on concussion and head injuries say it has to be the team doctor who makes the call on whether a player can carry on.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">But the rules, published last week, have no specific guidance when it comes to children and heading the ball.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The rules have angered the family of Jeff Astle, the West Bromwich Albion star who died in 2002.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The 59-year-old's brain disease, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), was clearly linked to repeatedly heading the ball throughout his career.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">A pathologist compared his brain to that of a boxer.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Dawn Astle, Jeff's daughter, said: "We know what killed dad, the coroner's court said it was industrial disease: heading footballs killed dad and the Football Association just don't acknowledge it.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"Twelve-and-a-half years on, they still haven't acknowledged what killed him.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"We have real worries, not just for current footballers, and of course not just professionals - we're talking about amateurs as well - but about football's future, about the children in the game.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"They need to know the risks, then they can make informed choices."</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">The Astle family and one of the world's leading neurosurgeons, Dr Willie Stewart, are meeting FA representatives including chairman Greg Dyke to persuade them of their case.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">At grassroots level, more knowledge is always welcome.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">Mark Gould, a coach who runs Sport4Kids, said: "There's very little really on coaching heading.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"The traditions that have persevered through the generations are; use your forehead, making sure that you keep your eyes on the ball, and it's common sense really - keep your eyes closed.</span></div> <div style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; max-width: 540px;"> <span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">"But there's no explicit guidelines given, not at the moment. Any guidance the FA can give is going to be a bonus."</span></div> <div> <br /></div> </section><section class="partner-links" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #333333; font-family: SkyTextRegular, Helvetica, Arial, Verdana; font-size: 1.125rem; line-height: 1.625rem; margin: 0px auto 60px; max-width: 540px; overflow: hidden;"><div class="partner-links__external" style="box-sizing: border-box;"> </div> </section></div> </div>

Heading Footballs 'Not Safe For Children'

A top neuroscientist says children's neck muscles are not developed enough and their brains are vulnerable to blows to the head. ...

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