Headgear

D

Denied

BRONZE
Probably the one area that should be protected the most, is not. I understand that it is not a common thing for a keeper to use but with head injury prevention such a hot topic these days I'm surprised that I don't see more kids wearing, especially keepers, some form of protection.

I don't feel that there is anything on the current market that addresses this issue unless you look at some of the Rugby style headgear. Even those won't offer total protection but it's probably better then nothing.
 
Denied said:
Probably the one area that should be protected the most, is not. I understand that it is not a common thing for a keeper to use but with head injury prevention such a hot topic these days I'm surprised that I don't see more kids wearing, especially keepers, some form of protection.

I don't feel that there is anything on the current market that addresses this issue unless you look at some of the Rugby style headgear. Even those won't offer total protection but it's probably better then nothing.
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It's why there needs to be a keepers union. Headgear is allowed by the LoG. Cech famously wears them. But: 1) part of it is social, particularly in the US....keepers who wear it risk ridicule for being soft and that's something a keeper can never be.....to get there you'd probably need a rule requiring it, but 2) you won't get that rule because the studies that are out there seem to indicate that the helmets currently allowed don't do that much to prevent injury (was riding with a girl this weekend who fell off from a horse that was standing still when it reared....still got a concussion even though she was wearing a top line helmet much better than those flimsy things worn by rugby players), 3) to get something that's actually effective it would need to look a lot more like a football or riding helmet and with keepers charging forwards that would obviously raise concerns about the safety of other players. If we are looking for a better solution to protect keepers, revising the LoG to be more effective in protecting the keepers by penalizing offensive players would actually do more good....the reward for a foul against the keeper being a goalkick and yellow is ridiculous. But any effective change would likely have to be done at a FIFA level, and these threads have already shown most people outside of goalkeeping know nothing about it.
 
I was so curious what you all did for head protection, but didn’t want to clog up the recent knee protection thread!

I ended up purchasing this for my DS the keeper. He’s young, and the team is brand new so my plan re peer/social pressure is for him to just wear it from day 1 and for everyone to just assume that’s part of the keeper collection of gear.

https://storelli.com/products/exosh...hr7Q7AZkPksdqievNoWaXNGoscZX141BoC7kkQAvD_BwE


(Oh geez, sorry for the eight billion character link).

I’m a little bummed to hear that head protection overall isn’t super effective, but fingers crossed it’s better than nothing.
 
Denied said:
Probably the one area that should be protected the most, is not. I understand that it is not a common thing for a keeper to use but with head injury prevention such a hot topic these days I'm surprised that I don't see more kids wearing, especially keepers, some form of protection.

I don't feel that there is anything on the current market that addresses this issue unless you look at some of the Rugby style headgear. Even those won't offer total protection but it's probably better then nothing.
Click to expand...
As a parent, the biggest reason I don't insist my child wear headgear is that there isn't any conclusive evidence that headgear reduces the risk of concussion.
 
Grace T. said:
It's why there needs to be a keepers union. Headgear is allowed by the LoG. Cech famously wears them. But: 1) part of it is social, particularly in the US....keepers who wear it risk ridicule for being soft and that's something a keeper can never be.....to get there you'd probably need a rule requiring it, but 2) you won't get that rule because the studies that are out there seem to indicate that the helmets currently allowed don't do that much to prevent injury (was riding with a girl this weekend who fell off from a horse that was standing still when it reared....still got a concussion even though she was wearing a top line helmet much better than those flimsy things worn by rugby players), 3) to get something that's actually effective it would need to look a lot more like a football or riding helmet and with keepers charging forwards that would obviously raise concerns about the safety of other players. If we are looking for a better solution to protect keepers, revising the LoG to be more effective in protecting the keepers by penalizing offensive players would actually do more good....the reward for a foul against the keeper being a goalkick and yellow is ridiculous. But any effective change would likely have to be done at a FIFA level, and these threads have already shown most people outside of goalkeeping know nothing about it.
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My son has worn headgear. If he caught any grief about it he would say take it up with Petr. If they looked at him funny, probably because they had no idea whp Petr was, he would then say I thought so.

There is a stigma about headgear but it's really up to the keepers to change it, not FIFA. I get it, rules can be changed, but I doubt they will.

On the area of helmets not providing much protection? I could say the same thing about shin guards. Seriously, on any weekend you can see dozens of professional players rolling around grabbing their shins in agony...uhm I thought shin guards were supposed to protect them? Apparently not yet they are a required part of the game.

I agree that the helmets/headgear out there today won't prevent a concussion, but neither do Football helmets and yet they use them. In fact probably the worst blow to the head in Football is a knee to the helmet.. imagine not wearing one.

Some of the Rugby headgear can be customized. I'm going to let my son, who is 16, design his own. Even if it just helps a little... it's worth it.
 
Grace T. said:
It's why there needs to be a keepers union. Headgear is allowed by the LoG. Cech famously wears them. But: 1) part of it is social, particularly in the US....keepers who wear it risk ridicule for being soft and that's something a keeper can never be.....to get there you'd probably need a rule requiring it, but 2) you won't get that rule because the studies that are out there seem to indicate that the helmets currently allowed don't do that much to prevent injury (was riding with a girl this weekend who fell off from a horse that was standing still when it reared....still got a concussion even though she was wearing a top line helmet much better than those flimsy things worn by rugby players), 3) to get something that's actually effective it would need to look a lot more like a football or riding helmet and with keepers charging forwards that would obviously raise concerns about the safety of other players. If we are looking for a better solution to protect keepers, revising the LoG to be more effective in protecting the keepers by penalizing offensive players would actually do more good....the reward for a foul against the keeper being a goalkick and yellow is ridiculous. But any effective change would likely have to be done at a FIFA level, and these threads have already shown most people outside of goalkeeping know nothing about it.
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I was at a tournament in midwest a couple of years ago and a keeper parent told a horror story of an opposing keeper who dived face-first into a strikers kick. The opponent's cleats caught the keeper just above the lips and peeled the face back up beyond the eyebrows. No helmet short of an ice hockey cage is going to protect against that.
 
MyDaughtersAKeeper said:
My kid doesn't wear head gear and will not hear of it. If she goes up in a crowd and brings the knee up, she SHOULD be able to keep other players away (to an extent). My bigger concern is the diving stop where the other player doesn't/can't hold up or the referee who allows the other team to continue kicking at it even though she has her hands on the ball. She has come along way from when she would (accidently) stop the ball with her face since her hands weren't quick enough.
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I think an attempt to play the ball under the control of the keeper should be an automatic yellow (how is it any better than DOGSO?) and a DK from the top of the penalty line.
 
Grace T. said:
I think an attempt to play the ball under the control of the keeper should be an automatic yellow (how is it any better than DOGSO?) and a DK from the top of the penalty line.
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No matter what rules we put in to protect keepers, there will still be borderline cases.
 
Some studies suggest that they may be counter productive, pointing to something called the "Superman Effect." This is where players wearing the head gear feel less vulnerable and therefore make riskier plays than they would without the headgear. Since the headgear doesn't actually offer much protection, the result is worse than wearing no protection at all. I don't think the studies focused on GKs specifically though.
 
I guess something is better than nothing, we have about 7-8 girls on our team wearing this as one got a mild concussion from heading the ball - https://unequal.com/halo-3/

Our Keeper DD wears it also. It’s light, small, and probably offers little protection. She feels more protected, but it is like the shin guard comment - keeper pant pads, and jersey elbow pads won’t do much to protect from a real impact.

I always looked at as every lit bit helps, and the psychology of feeling more protected in the field of play. The Superman comment, that got me thinking...I have never seen her do anything dangerous, but I never thought of it from that perspective.
 
Woobie06 said:
I guess something is better than nothing, we have about 7-8 girls on our team wearing this as one got a mild concussion from heading the ball - https://unequal.com/halo-3/

Our Keeper DD wears it also. It’s light, small, and probably offers little protection. She feels more protected, but it is like the shin guard comment - keeper pant pads, and jersey elbow pads won’t do much to protect from a real impact.

I always looked at as every lit bit helps, and the psychology of feeling more protected in the field of play. The Superman comment, that got me thinking...I have never seen her do anything dangerous, but I never thought of it from that perspective.
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Those might protect against surface bruises or cuts, but they do next to nothing for concussions.
 
Mystery Train said:
As a parent, the biggest reason I don't insist my child wear headgear is that there isn't any conclusive evidence that headgear reduces the risk of concussion.
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Do we need conclusive evidence to protect our kids? What if it only protects 10%? Is that enough? Maybe if enough keepers start wearing them some company will decide to invest in making a better one. Also, correct if I'm wrong, but didn't the NFL have a study that said that playing Football(head to head collisions) does not cause concussions? I think we all know that they were wrong.
 
Dargle said:
Some studies suggest that they may be counter productive, pointing to something called the "Superman Effect." This is where players wearing the head gear feel less vulnerable and therefore make riskier plays than they would without the headgear. Since the headgear doesn't actually offer much protection, the result is worse than wearing no protection at all. I don't think the studies focused on GKs specifically though.
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I saw something similar but it was a Rugby study.
 
Woobie06 said:
I don’t disagree, as a keeper the best thing to protect yourself is to be loud, protect yourself (knee up, etc.) and deliver a blow (come out hard) instead of receiving the impact...be the windshield not the bug.
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Exact same with heading. If you head the ball correctly you will not get a concussion. If you let the ball head you, you likely will.
 
Denied said:
Do we need conclusive evidence to protect our kids? What if it only protects 10%? Is that enough? Maybe if enough keepers start wearing them some company will decide to invest in making a better one. Also, correct if I'm wrong, but didn't the NFL have a study that said that playing Football(head to head collisions) does not cause concussions? I think we all know that they were wrong.
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It's a chicken and egg problem. Particularly given our culture (with its emphasis on winning and being tough), keepers won't be willing to do it unless someone (parents or authorities) force it. Parents have a free rider problem-- if they enforce it and others don't, their kid might come under criticism from coaches, refs, players and other parents for being soft (and unless their kid is the naturally gifted 3% of keepers who at 9 years old can properly protect the high corner via an extension dive and write their own ticket for any team, good luck with that). The authorities won't force it without some proof they'll do some good. Companies won't invest in improving them until there's something that will be accepted by the authorities and they know they'll make money out of it.

Remember the NSCAA guidelines says players shouldn't specialize in keeping until age 12. So for the under 12 it's got to be something that the kids can all share, is inexpensive so coaches can purchase, and doesn't run risks like lice transmission before orgs like AYSO and USSF get behind it. And the more likely response by the authorities (given that they usually take the less litigious, easier way out) is to just outlaw certain keeper moves before age 12 (like front smothers and extended diving). They'll never impose rules which are more protective and stringent for the older keepers but let the under 10s part time keepers go without protection...too much liability risk.

The best way to get companies to make and keepers to use is through the MLS...but same problem there....the MLS doesn't want to look soft in front of other leagues.
 
Denied said:
Do we need conclusive evidence to protect our kids? What if it only protects 10%? Is that enough? Maybe if enough keepers start wearing them some company will decide to invest in making a better one. Also, correct if I'm wrong, but didn't the NFL have a study that said that playing Football(head to head collisions) does not cause concussions? I think we all know that they were wrong.
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If there was evidence showing that it did provide 10% protection that would be “conclusive” to me. Problem is there is nothing to suggest headgear even does that. Sure, it seems like it should be good for something and using that logic I encouraged my daughter to wear one, and she did for a couple seasons. She started to “forget” to pack it in her bag and eventually refused to wear it at all.

The point about the Superman effect is real. Interestingly, there’s an argument that helmets in American football actually promote concussions because they allow head to head blows without contusions (bruises) and split scalps, thus providing a false sense of invincibility. I read a very convincing article in SI years ago lobbying to eliminate helmets, which would stop players from leading with their heads like weapons. Regardless, concussions occur because of head snap, change of direction causing the brain to hit the interior of the skull. The most effective way to combat this is to strengthen the neck muscles and teach players proper technique, including how to fall (tucking and rolling).

I don’t criticize anyone for using headgear for their kids. But if you want to see more use of headgear, there ought to be something that demonstrates it’s effectiveness to promote.
 
Not one mention of that big white post (2 of them actually) and the effect it has on the head when the two meet under the worst of conditions. Depending where the two meet..headgear won't matter.
 
MyDaughtersAKeeper said:
My kid doesn't wear head gear and will not hear of it. If she goes up in a crowd and brings the knee up, she SHOULD be able to keep other players away (to an extent). My bigger concern is the diving stop where the other player doesn't/can't hold up or the referee who allows the other team to continue kicking at it even though she has her hands on the ball. She has come along way from when she would (accidently) stop the ball with her face since her hands weren't quick enough.
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Yeah that is my concern too. At a recent tournament it was clear that the Ref. wasn't going to protect my Keeper. When you can say 1001 after the Keeper has the ball and the kicker still comes in kicking, there is a problem. I didn't need to say a word because her defender caught on and started running in front of her to protect her even though she already had the ball. Of course that produced a fight and that same defender got a yellow card. If the ref. had been appropriately protecting my Keeper, it wouldn't have happened. Normally I hear parents on our side say, "Hey, protect our Keeper" when in fact my Keeper puts herself in a given situation. What I saw at the tournament was not one of those situations. Refs. need to understand the difference.
 
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