给家长的警示

Melissa Block （Host）： Kids who play soccer should not head the ball before high school. Thats the recommendation from a new campaign thats 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 childs brain development. Helping to lead the campaign are 3 former members of the U.S. womens 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 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 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 Id 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 Id 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 thats a minor concussion.

Melissa： I wonder if youve talked to doctors who have said， yeah， were pretty sure that your experience in youth soccer contributed to what youre experiencing now.

Cindy： Yeah， I mean we didnt 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. Im a youth soccer coach， and I will be talking with the kids that Im coaching about， you know—theres…were not going to practise heading. I coach 11 and 12-year-olds right now， and theres no need for them to be heading the soccer ball yet. Well focus on other technical and tactical skills associated—that are developmentally appropriate for them.

Melissa： Do you get pushback from parents， because I know from being on the sidelines of lots of youth soccer games that anytime a kid heads the ball， the parents go crazy—hey， thats great. And I would imagine， you know， if youre telling your kids not to do it， you might get parent saying were going to lose. Were going to be noncompetitive.

Cindy： Well， I think thats something that we have to communicate well with parents. At the forefront of this is to keep their kids safe， which I dont know a parent out there that doesnt want to keep their kid safe. So if this means delaying heading until theyre in high school and 14 years of age， then thats what it means. And I think thats why this is so important is just during those developmental years， were 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： Im curious. When youre coaching youth soccer， what do you tell a parent if he or she comes to you and asks， you know， why cant 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 dont think I can tell them not to head the ball. I can tell them that Im not going to practise it in practice， and I can tell them that Im 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， Im not going to punish them in any sort of way. But just by eliminating the heading in practice and eliminating them feeling like they have to head the ball in the game， already， were decreasing the number of impacts theyre taking to the head.

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

Cindy： Thank you very much.

梅丽莎·布洛克（主持人）：踢足球的孩子在上高中前不该用头来顶球——这是一个新的运动所提出的建议。这个运动旨在让家长、教练和孩子们了解在踢足球的过程中会有脑震荡和脑损伤的危险。发起这次运动的医生说在14岁前用头顶球会给孩子的脑部发育带来特殊的风险。发起这次运动的是前美国女子国家足球队的三位队员，她们在1999年赢得了世界杯的冠军。她们之中的辛迪·帕洛·科恩退役后患上了脑震荡后综合征。她告诉我到现在她还是头晕头疼，而她相信这是因为她在很小的时候就开始年复一年的用头顶球。

辛迪·帕洛·科恩：嗯，我在大约三岁的时候就开始踢足球，因为我的哥哥姐姐们都这么干，我想做一切他们正在做的事。你一开始学足球，就会开始学习头球。因此到我14岁的时候，可能已经练习了一千多次的头球了。

梅丽莎：真的吗？那你在那么小的时候有注意到这样做有什么影响吗？

辛迪：我记得练习头球的时候时常会眼冒金星，但是我真的从来没有多想此事。我意思是，我现在当然知道那是不正常的现象——眼冒金星，这是轻微脑震荡的（症状）。

梅丽莎：我在想你有没有跟医生提起过此事，而医生有没有说：“嗯，我们很确定你青少年期间（练习头球）的经历导致了现在的症状。”

辛迪：嗯，我的意思是在我成长的过程中我们并没有很了解此事，而现在我们很清楚了。我认为如果我们对（这一情况）更加了解，就应该做得更好。我们要对所有年幼就开始踢足球的孩子们负责，盡可能保证他们在这项运动中的安全。我现在是一名少年足球教练，我会和我的学生聊天。你知道的——我们不用练习头球。我现在正在训练11、12岁的孩子，他们还没有必要去练习头球。我们把精力放在其他相关的战术和技能上——这些很适合他们的发展。

梅丽莎：你（这样做）受到过家长们的阻挠吗？因为我在球场边上看过许多少年足球的比赛，每当一个孩子用了头球，家长们都会为之疯狂——嘿，这太棒了。因此我认为，你知道的，如果你说你的孩子不要用头球，你就会听到家长们说：“我们肯定要输了，我们没有一点竞争力。”

辛迪：好吧，我认为这就是我们必须要和家长沟通好的事。最关键的是保证他们孩子的安全，我想没有一个家长不希望自己的孩子是安全的。如果这意味着把练习头球推迟到他们上高中或14岁的时候，这就是其意义所在。我想这件事重要之处就在于在孩子们成长的阶段，我们不用让他们经常用头来顶球。这种反复性的动作对于这个年龄阶段的孩子是没有好处的，他们需要再等一段时间。

梅丽莎：我很好奇，当你在教少年足球的时候，你知道的，如果家长们来问你：“为什么我的孩子不能在10、11、12岁练习头球？你此时会怎么跟他们说呢？

辛迪：好吧，我想，首先，我不能命令他们不练习头球，直到这次的运动达成规定——规定任何足球俱乐部的孩子都不能练习头球。我可以告诉孩子们我不会在训练中练习头球，我也可以告诉他们我不会在比赛中强迫他们用头球。如果在俱乐部更改规定之前他们用了头球，我也不会处罚他们。但是通过减少他们在训练和比赛中用头球的次数，我们已经减少了对他们头部的影响。

梅丽莎：好的，辛迪·帕洛·科恩，非常感谢你来到这里。

辛迪：非常感谢你。