Why Soccer Players Should Wear Headgear or Headbands

Studies have shown that wearing headgear, whether full cap-style helmets or headbands, does make a difference in reducing the impacts that players receive from head-to-head contact and from heading.

Here are some articles in national publications that address the issue:

Virginia Tech Helmet Lab Ratings

Quote from the article: “Though performance varied widely, the results demonstrated that some headgear were very effective: Three models earned the top score of five stars, which translates to a reduction in concussion risk of at least 70 percent for the impacts tested.”

Here’s a list of the ratings from the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab.

Wired Magazine

Quote from the article: “The problem is especially acute for girls, who are suffering high rates of concussions from soccer. A 2017 study by Northwestern University researchers presented by the Society of Orthopaedic Surgeons showed that concussions among female soccer players occur at a higher rate than any other male athletes, and are increasing.”

New York Times

Quote from the article: ‘ “I remember when baseball players didn’t wear batting helmets,” said Steve Ryan, commissioner of the Major Indoor Soccer League, which approves of headgear. “You see some resistance in soccer, which is natural. But I expect, over time, you will see it broadly accepted.” ‘

Medscape

Quote from the article: “Such head injuries are all too common in the world’s most popular sport, particularly for girls. Girls playing soccer suffer 9 concussions per 10,000 games or practices─the same incidence as boys playing American football in US high schools, researchers at Northwestern University in Chicago have found…”

Active

Quote from the article: “In womens soccer, there are a number of head-to-head injuries; however, in mens soccer there seem to be more elbow-to-head injuries.”

Today

Quote from the article: “In fact, Lipton’s research, published in the journal Radiology, found that adult soccer players who frequently head the ball may be risking brain injury, memory loss and impaired cognitive ability, whether or not they have a history of concussion.”

SB Nation

Quote from the article: “The highest rated helmets are all headband style, and not the rugby-style helmet that you typically see soccer players wearing, and according to Abi Tyson from Virginia Tech, the Storelli Exoshield actually provides an 84% reduction in concussion risk, according to their findings.”

AP News

Quote from the article: “The study also said concussions were more common in female soccer players in the 2014-15 school year than in any other sport in which high school girls participate.”

Denver Post

Quote from the article: “George Connolly, head women’s soccer coach at Holy Family High School in Broomfield, has been requiring his players to wear the headbands during both practice and games for the past six years. The headbands, which are made by Full 90, cost between $45 and $50. As far as Connolly knows, he’s the only girl’s high school soccer coach in Colorado who requires his players to wear them.”