Should Goalkeepers Wear Headgear?
July 23, 2007
With the shocking head injury that Petr Cech endured in last seasons Premiership, and the increase of speed and intensity in the round ball game, it seems that we are still not thinking with our noggin. If you watch Aussie football codes like league or union, you will notice many of the players wearing head gear…and they don’t even use their heads (scrum excluded)! Recent scientific research has pointed to the growing concern among soccer players and administrators for the need to protect players heads during competition. Let’s look at the research findings.
In the first attempt to rely on results from the field instead of the lab, this innovative study was carried out just after the 2006 soccer season and included 268 adolescents aged 12 to 17 years from the Oakville Soccer Club. Although only 52 of them wore headgear during this period, the results are significant: the risk of concussion was 2.65 times higher for players who were not protected. In fact, 52.8% of the adolescents who did not wear headgear reported being injured compared to only 26.9% of those who did. These results are indeed noteworthy, particularly since approximately 80% of sports-related injuries are not recognized or reported. Prevention is therefore an essential means of protection. (Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine, July 2007).
FIFA has stated that players can choose to wear headgear but this is not mandatory. So, the question remains, should headgear be worn by competitive goalkeepers? When we look at the high intensity, high impact state of today’s game, the role of the goalkeeper coming off his line for one-to-one situations, or challenging for high balls in the air can cause injury. When will headgear become a mandatory piece of equipment in the goalkeeper bag…should it?
I wish I could get access to the actual paper. First, this study was accomplished by survey, not direct interview/observation. Second – only 52 kids wore the headgear. That’s a very small sample. Third – the symptoms of a concussion can also be related to other things – I mean ask any 12-17 year old if they’ve had a headache, dizziness, or confusion and you’re likely to get some false hits.
Don’t get me wrong – concussions are a serious issue. But I’d love to know what their survey questions were and what combination of self-observed symptoms they required to deem that the player suffered a ‘concussion’ I wonder if it overinflated the true number of kids who had a concussion – the fact that 4 out of 5 didn’t knwo they had one speaks volumes to that. Many kids don’t know they suffered an injury, but some of those very well may have been other symptoms. It’ll be interesting to see the reaction to this report.
Headgear will protect your head – no question. The trick is will it prevent enough SERIOUS concussions to be worth all youth players wearing them.
Great call Mike. I present the studies here, so good that you delved into it a little deeper. And yes, with any study there will be hit and miss, and there should be a more prolonged assessment to give more refined results. Great response by the way!
I would be interested in details of the headgear Cech is wearing. I have not seen anything like this on the market in the US. Most readily-available headgear seems targeted at field players. I wonder if they would serve as well for goalkeepers.
Hey Lloyd,
I don’t think that there is anything on the market specifically for goalkeepers. But headgear is all the same, you just have to market it differently. Definitely a potential business opportunity.
J.