Heads up play

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on August 29  that The Shipley School, a private school in Bryn Mawr outside Philadelphia, has banned its middle school soccer players from heading the ball, the first school in the country to do so.

"We've seen a growing trend of injuries in our students, severe head injuries," athletic director Mark Duncan is quoted as saying. "They're sitting out weeks to months from school."  But interestingly, when invited to join in the ban, other schools in Shipley's conference (the Friends School League) declined. 

Although the ban applies only to middle schoolers, some high school players who had already begun practice last week were not high on the idea.  "I don't love the idea, and if it were me, I would be upset," said Hope Roehrs, 16, cocaptain of the varsity team. "Sometimes you need to head the ball, like into a goal."

Personal opinion here is that heading the ball, especially if taught the right way, is less of a problem than head-to-head collisions when two players are going up for a ball.