The future around heading in football for kids has been very unclear over the last few years, driven by multiple examples of former professionals being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia, most prominently in players from England 1966 world cup winning squad.
Multiple organisations have come together to protect the world’s next young footballerss and remove any forms of heading that may lead to repercussions in later life.
Most recently, The Lambeth & Southwark Primary Schools Football League (which covers 24 schools in South London) has banned any form of heading and is one of the first Primary School League to do so. Many youth football organisations ban heading during training, but the Lambeth & Southwark Primary Schools Football League is the first league to ban heading during matches as well.
These actions have been taken as a direct result of research showing that professional footballers are over three times more likely to die from dementia. The first of the measures were taken last year with children in England, Scotland and Northern Island being banned from any headers in training, but still allowed in matches.
LIONSTRIKE’S VIEW
Lionstrike is the proud manufacturer of lightweight footballs, helping boys and girls gain confidence on the pitch. In addition to this, Lionstrike Lite balls also have a strong safety element to protect younger players due to less force of impact. Many top-level, elite coaches admit to not knowing how much their players head the ball in training, so this in-built level of safety is an important factor.
Lionstrike hopes to make parents, coaches and the players feel more comfortable when playing football, knowing that if they do need to head the ball it will be lighter and softer than many other footballs. Our Lite footballs are 20% lighter, which reduces the force of impact considerably, and can really help in terms of children safety.”