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Soccer Headers

Soccer Gear

You may have noticed that a few kids are wearing some sort of silly looking, padded hat or bandana on their head when they play soccer. It's supposed to protect their head. Head gear for soccer?

Some kids are using it because a few people with bright ideas out there think soccer is a contact sport and it's dangerous to head the ball. A school district outside of Milwaukee, Wisconsin has even made it mandatory for kids in middle school (eight to 12 years old) to wear head protection when they are playing soccer. The Prez of the Fox Point - Bayside School District, Jeffery Cameron, told USA Today, "Kids shouldn't head the ball. They lack the skill and coordination at that age, and their heads are usually too big for their bodies."

What's this chump talking about? I think his head is too big for his body. Do you think David Beckham or Pele "lacked the skill" to head the ball when they were 11 years old? Heading is an important part of the game and you can score some great goals using your noggin. Sure you can get hurt in soccer like any other sport, though you are more likely to get hurt by getting kicked in the shin or the knee than you are heading the ball. Most people get hurt at a soccer game when a riot starts or a stadium collapses.

Soccer has been played for years without head gear and if players learn how to head the ball properly they won't get hurt. Whoever came up with the idea of wearing a padded hat while playing soccer has probably been hit in the head too many times themselves.

What do you think of head gear for soccer? Is it lame or okay?