給家長的警示——別讓孩子過早地接觸頭球

Melissa Block （Host）： Kids who play soccer should not head the ball before high school. That’s the 1）recommendation from a new campaign that’s trying to educate parents， coaches and kids about the dangers of concussion and brain injury in soccer. The doctors behind the campaign say heading the ball before age 14 poses special risks to a child’s brain development. Helping to lead the campaign are 3 former members of the U.S. women’s national team that won the World Cup in 1999. Among them， Cindy Parlow Cone， who cited post-concussion syndrome when she retired from the game. She told me she still experiences 2）fatigue and headaches， which she believes can be traced to years and years of heading the ball， starting at a really early age.

Cindy Parlow Cone： Well， I started playing soccer when I was about three years old because my older 3）siblings played it， and I wanted to do everything that they were doing. As soon as you started playing soccer you started learning how to head the ball， and so by the time I reached 14 I’d probably headed the ball over a thousand times already.

Melissa： Really？ And did you notice any effects when you were that little？

Cindy： I remember seeing stars every once in a while when I’d head the ball， but I never really thought much of it. I mean obviously I know now that that is not normal—to see stars， and that’s a minor concussion.

Melissa： I wonder if you’ve talked to doctors who have said， yeah， we’re pretty sure that your experience in youth soccer contributed to what you’re experiencing now.

Cindy： Yeah， I mean we didn’t know better when I was growing up， but now we do. And I think when you know better you have to do better， and we have a responsibility to all the youth kids out there playing soccer to try to make the sport as safe as possible for them. I’m a youth soccer coach， and I will be talking with the kids that I’m coaching about， you know—there’s…we’re not going to practise heading. I coach 11 and 12-year-olds right now， and there’s no need for them to be heading the soccer ball yet. We’ll focus on other technical and tactical skills associated—that are developmentally appropriate for them.

Melissa： Do you get 4）pushback from parents， because I know from being on the 5）sidelines of lots of youth soccer games that anytime a kid heads the ball， the parents go crazy—hey， that’s great. And I would imagine， you know， if you’re telling your kids not to do it， you might get parent saying we’re going to lose. We’re going to be 6）noncompetitive.

Cindy： Well， I think that’s something that we have to communicate well with parents. At the 7）forefront of this is to keep their kids safe， which I don’t know a parent out there that doesn’t want to keep their kid safe. So if this means delaying heading until they’re in high school and 14 years of age， then that’s what it means. And I think that’s why this is so important is just during those developmental years， we’re not having them constantly hit the ball with their heads. That repetition is not good for that age group， and they need to wait a little bit longer.

Melissa： I’m curious. When you’re coaching youth soccer， what do you tell a parent if he or she comes to you and asks， you know， why can’t my kid had the ball at age 10， 11， 12？ What do you tell them？

Cindy： Well， I think in—first of all， until this campaign becomes the rule—that there is no heading in any of the leagues that these kids are playing in， I don’t think I can tell them not to head the ball. I can tell them that I’m not going to practise it in practice， and I can tell them that I’m not going to force them to head the ball in the games. If the ball comes to them in the game before the leagues change the rule and they head the ball， I’m not going to punish them in any sort of way. But just by 8）eliminating the heading in practice and eliminating them feeling like they have to head the ball in the game， already， we’re 9）decreasing the number of impacts they’re taking to the head.

Melissa： Well， Cindy Parlow Cone， thanks so much for talking with us.

Cindy： Thank you very much.

梅麗莎·布洛克（主持人）：踢足球的孩子在上高中前不該用頭來頂球——這是一個新的運動所提出的建議。這個運動旨在讓家長、教練和孩子們了解在踢足球的過程中會有腦震蕩和腦損傷的危險。發起這次運動的醫生說在14歲前用頭頂球會給孩子的腦部發育帶來特殊的風險。發起這次運動的是前美國女子國家足球隊的三位隊員，她們在1999年贏得了世界杯的冠軍。她們之中的辛迪·帕洛·科恩退役后患上了腦震蕩后綜合征。她告訴我到現在她還是頭暈頭疼，而她相信這是因為她在很小的時候就開始年復一年的用頭頂球。

辛迪·帕洛·科恩：嗯，我在大約三歲的時候就開始踢足球，因為我的哥哥姐姐們都這么干，我想做一切他們正在做的事。你一開始學足球，就會開始學習頭球。因此到我14歲的時候，可能已經練習了一千多次的頭球了。

梅麗莎：真的嗎？那你在那么小的時候有注意到這樣做有什么影響嗎？

辛迪：我記得練習頭球的時候時常會眼冒金星，但是我真的從來沒有多想此事。我意思是，我現在當然知道那是不正常的現象——眼冒金星，這是輕微腦震蕩的（癥狀）。

梅麗莎：我在想你有沒有跟醫生提起過此事，而醫生有沒有說：“嗯，我們很確定你青少年期間（練習頭球）的經歷導致了現在的癥狀。”

辛迪：嗯，我的意思是在我成長的過程中我們并沒有很了解此事，而現在我們很清楚了。我認為如果我們對（這一情況）更加了解，就應該做得更好。我們要對所有年幼就開始踢足球的孩子們負責，盡可能保證他們在這項運動中的安全。我現在是一名少年足球教練，我會和我的學生聊天。你知道的——我們不用練習頭球。我現在正在訓練11、12歲的孩子，他們還沒有必要去練習頭球。我們把精力放在其他相關的戰術和技能上——這些很適合他們的發展。

梅麗莎：你（這樣做）受到過家長們的阻撓嗎？因為我在球場邊上看過許多少年足球的比賽，每當一個孩子用了頭球，家長們都會為之瘋狂——嘿，這太棒了。因此我認為，你知道的，如果你說你的孩子不要用頭球，你就會聽到家長們說：“我們肯定要輸了，我們沒有一點競爭力。”

辛迪：好吧，我認為這就是我們必須要和家長溝通好的事。最關鍵的是保證他們孩子的安全，我想沒有一個家長不希望自己的孩子是安全的。如果這意味著把練習頭球推遲到他們上高中或14歲的時候，這就是其意義所在。我想這件事重要之處就在于在孩子們成長的階段，我們不用讓他們經常用頭來頂球。這種反復性的動作對于這個年齡階段的孩子是沒有好處的，他們需要再等一段時間。

梅麗莎：我很好奇，當你在教少年足球的時候，你知道的，如果家長們來問你：“為什么我的孩子不能在10、11、12歲練習頭球？你此時會怎么跟他們說呢？

辛迪：好吧，我想，首先，我不能命令他們不練習頭球，直到這次的運動達成規定——規定任何足球俱樂部的孩子都不能練習頭球。我可以告訴孩子們我不會在訓練中練習頭球，我也可以告訴他們我不會在比賽中強迫他們用頭球。如果在俱樂部更改規定之前他們用了頭球，我也不會處罰他們。但是通過減少他們在訓練和比賽中用頭球的次數，我們已經減少了對他們頭部的影響。

梅麗莎：好的，辛迪·帕洛·科恩，非常感謝你來到這里。

辛迪：非常感謝你。