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stouflville suntribune b thursday nov 24 2005 27 asthma soccer players using heads but do they need protective gear by mike hayakawa staff writer h ockey and football players wouldnt step into the arena without covering their heads even baseball and softball players before stepping into the batters box will don some form of protective head gear as a means of avoiding potential head injuries or concussions but in soccer where players use their head to advance the ball head protection is not mandatory however theres been a move afoot in recent years to inform soccer players they are not immune from head injuries caused by physical contact or through constant heading of a ball since 2003 the federation internationale de football association fifa the interna tional governing soccer organi zation has allowed players to wear protective headgear we dont have enough evidence yet to decide whether these devices are helpful harmful or a bit of both the device known as the full 90 headgear sells for around 50 it can be worn by women or men and is adjustable said hayley taylor of l and m taylor a markham retail outlet that spe cializes in soccer equipment on sale for about a year its more popular among women players who have had con cussions are also encouraged to use protection in york region youth soccer clubs confirm head gear tends to be worn more by girls ive seen the odd kid use it in our organization and i had one who swears by it said robert ortale unionvillemilliken soccer club president but i dont know if its effec tive i think it tends to give kids more of a psychological boost or it provides more of a comfort level im no expert on it added chris shea markham soccer club president but i think they are questionable at best the proof in the pudding is not there yet if its trying to offer protection or not mark kozakholland whitchurchstouffville soccer clubs presidentsaid his organi zation abides by fifa rules staff photosjoerd witteveen aaron taylor of l and t taylor in markham models the full 90 headgear for soccer players which do not make headgear mandatory its headgear something that we would not advocate as necessary there are no guide lines i have seen from fifa we dont even encourage children trying to head the ball till they are at least 11 he said studies by sports medicine groups around the world havent made any conclusion to date the majority are skeptical unionvilles dr james carson a member of several sport medicine advisory boards including the canadian academy of sport medicine thinkfirst sportsmart and institute for preventative sports medicine is not sold on the effectiveness of protective soccer headgear the jury is still out he said we dont have enough evidence yet to decide whether these devices are helpful harmful or a bit of both the british journal of sports medicine revealed one study by canadians was funded by soc cers international governing body the swissbased federatidnonale de football association concluded that head gear models do not help during ball impact however they do reduce harder impacts such as from crashing the head into the ground or a goalpost or another player by onethird the canadian academy of sport medicine last year acknowledged that no soccer player is immune from incurring a head injury due to the games nature it recommend there must be concrete evidence to suggest protective headgear can signifi cantly reduce the number of potential head injuries to date they said there isnt any evidence to suggest that the academy has other safe tyrelated suggestions including using smaller balls in younger age groups limiting heading the ball and encouraging the use of mouthguards like head gear they said the use of mouth guards might also act as a deterrent in the preven tion of concussions are you at rlsk for heart disease and stroke take your free heart stroke risk assessment visit wwwheartandstrokeca 1888hsfinfo this message brought to you as a community service of the economist 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