There has been “no research whatsoever” done into the links between heading in football and the impact on children, the chief executive of a charity funding first-of-their-kind studies at Oxford University has told i.
Podium Analytics, a non-governmental organisation set up by former McLaren owner Ron Dennis, has established the Institute for Youth Sports Medicine and Technology and committed at least £40m in funding over the next 10 years.
The Institute brings together minds from biomedical engineering, big data, computer vision, artificial intelligence and other areas of medical sciences, with the aim of finding evidence to protect children involved in sport, from professional academies to schools and grass-roots level.
“The work that Willie Stewart did [at the University of Glasgow] in 2019 demonstrated there was an absolute connection between neurodegenerative diseases and an increased likelihood [of developing them] from playing football and heading,” Podium Analytics chief executive Andy Hunt told i.
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The Oxford Institute’s work will take around three to five years to come to fruition, while they first study the impact on adults before applying it to children.
“Everyone is focused on elite sport,” said former British Olympic Association chief executive Hunt. “On getting people prepared, repaired, back on the field of play, whatever the sport is. But not necessarily thinking about the pipeline of young people, youth participation and the affect it has on overall physical activity in the future.
“There’s a massive gap in the amount and quality of research that’s been undertaken, not only in youth sport but in grass-roots sport as well. All the research is always focused on elite or professional athletes.”
Hunt urges the Football Association, Premier League and English Football League to embrace what they are doing.
“They need to come onboard because they have the keys to the clubs and players that can really make a difference here,” he said. “It’s more challenging to do something league-wide, but I hope all the professional leagues will at some point embrace this and want to endorse what we’re doing. It’s fantastic for football and doesn’t cost them a penny.”
The Podium Analytics Institute’s research – funded by the Dream Chasing foundation, established by Dennis in 2008, and private equity firm CVC – will explore sport-related head injuries, sudden cardiac death, major musculoskeletal injuries and mental health and wellbeing in young people.
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Following Dr Stewart’s research, which found that footballers were more likely to die from degenerative brain disease and five times more likely to die from Parkinson’s than the general population, the FA issued new guidance in 2020 stating that children under 11 should not be taught to head footballs in training.
In July, FA trials began on banning heading in under-12 matches a and deliberate heading could be removed for games in that age group and below from next season.
Twelve months earlier, the FA made recommendations that in men’s football only 10 headers should be permitted per training session and only one heading session per week.
Podium’s focus is on the 11-18 age group. The charity has already created and released a head injury app to help track and manage concussions across sports. It is free for schools and clubs to use and offers guidance for teachers and coaches.
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