--- title: U.S. Soccer Federation Will Ban Headers for Young Players description: New regulations aimed at cutting down head injuries will be announced in 30 days canonical: https://time.com/4106372/youth-soccer-concussions-headers-head-injuires/ author: Daniel White article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-11-10T17:11:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T12:28:57.443Z article:section: Sports og:title: U.S. Soccer Federation Will Ban Headers for Young Players og:description: Players ages 10 and younger will be prohibited from headers og:url: https://time.com/4106372/youth-soccer-concussions-headers-head-injuires/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb605f00f8373b34d/698870568e06016ce64633e5/header.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: sb10064996a-001 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: U.S. Soccer Federation Will Ban Headers for Young Players twitter:description: Players ages 10 and younger will be prohibited from headers twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb605f00f8373b34d/698870568e06016ce64633e5/header.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # U.S. Soccer Federation Will Ban Headers for Young Players by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Nov 10, 2015 5:11 PM CUT  Silhouette of two people playing football Silhouette of two people playing footballGetty Images by [Daniel White](/author/daniel-white/) ## Daniel White Nov 10, 2015 5:11 PM CUT The United States Soccer Federation announced Monday that it will [ban headers for young players](http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/10/sports/soccer/us-soccer-resolving-lawsuit-will-limit-headers-for-youth-players.html?%5Fr=0 "undefined") following a lawsuit alleging negligence in treating head injuries. The changes are part of new safety rules and guidelines aimed at reducing head injuries. Players ages 10 and younger will be prohibited from headers, while those age 11 to 13 will face restrictions, the New York _Times_ reports. “What we’re establishing is creating parameters and guidelines with regards to the amount of exposure” to head injuries, George Chiampas, U.S. Soccer’s chief medical officer, told reporters. Other changes will involve rules on substitutions for players suspected of having sustained a concussion. The rule changes come after a class-action lawsuit filed in the United States District Court of California that began in August 2014 when a group of parents accused several soccer organizations of negligence in dealing with head injuries. According to the suit, nearly 50,000 high school soccer players sustained concussions in 2010. United States Soccer Federation rules will be requirements for U.S. Soccer youth national teams, including Major League Soccer youth club teams, but will only serve as guidelines for the rest of the country’s programs not regulated by U.S. Soccer. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4106372/youth-soccer-concussions-headers-head-injuires/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4106372/youth-soccer-concussions-headers-head-injuires/"},"headline":"U.S. Soccer Federation Will Ban Headers for Young Players","datePublished":"2015-11-10T17:11:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:28:57.443Z","description":"Players ages 10 and younger will be prohibited from headers","url":"https://time.com/4106372/youth-soccer-concussions-headers-head-injuires/","keywords":["Soccer"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb605f00f8373b34d/698870568e06016ce64633e5/header.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Daniel White","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/daniel-white/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltb605f00f8373b34d/698870568e06016ce64633e5/header.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"sb10064996a-001","caption":"sb10064996a-001","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/soccer/","name":"Soccer"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4106372/youth-soccer-concussions-headers-head-injuires/","name":"U.S. Soccer Federation Will Ban Headers for Young Players"}}]}] ```