In light of the recent ruling that has banned head ins and throw ins for Under 11 players, we take a look at what the effects of this could be in the long term as far as their development goes.
A rule that came into force in May of this year, it has been outlined that this is nationwide, with both referees and coaches alike fully briefed on the intricacies of such and, there is certainly an argument for both sides of the ruling.
There are 10s of thousands of U11 football teams in England, with virtually every sizeable village having their own establishment, in addition to hundreds of inner city clubs as well – all of which now need to be on the same page.
Why It Is A Good Idea
Any players caught deliberately heading the ball and taking a throw-in will now need to surrender a free-kick to the opposition, with the former having being replaced by a ‘pass in’ or a ‘dribble-in’.
One of the easiest arguments in favour of this, is that at such a young age, players bodies are still developing and over-exertion of constant throw-ins could have a potentially negative effect in terms of possibly being too strenuous on the body.
As such, moving to a more control-based skill such as passing, will likely mean that players develop a more technical part of their game and emphasis more on quick passing to speed up the game, in addition to movement, awareness and identifying runs when the ball is out of play, where a pass might be easier and more controlled to reach a teammate.
After two seasons of the IFAB trial in English football, we will now introduce a new rule to phase out deliberate heading in matches in all affiliated grassroots youth football between U7-U11 level over the next three seasons.
— The FA (@FA) May 17, 2024
Meanwhile, eradicating heading at this level is possibly understandable, with players of that age still developing their brain in what is an important time of their life cognitively. There has been a lot of criticism over the last few years about the negative effect that heading a football can have on young players – especially with the weight of some balls and the speed at which it can zip towards a head.
Furthermore, some children are more physically developed than some of their peers at that age, which could potentially mean that they have an unfair advantage over others when it comes to being able to head a ball, without too much physical effect.
Why It Is A Bad Idea
Conversely, it could be argued that banning throw ins and headings could well stunt their development in terms of their knowledge of the game. Not being able to head a ball properly when they move up another age group could hold players back. It could well even make them scared of the ball coming to them at speed and potentially cause problems at senior age groups in terms of a costing points.
In addition, this rule change could well cause unnecessary confusion and even breaks in play that are too long – ultimately affecting the pace of the game in the long run.
Heading and throw ins are a natural part of the game and have been for decades – learning the technical elements of these at an early age could be a crucial part of any player’s development, while also helping to define their best position, that could potentailly result in them playing for England.
Any child that is good in the air at the age, could well help scouts to identify their best position – either as a centre back or centre forward, which means that progress could well be halted for the worse.
To confuse matters further, a deliberate header in the ‘penalty area’ will result in an indirect free-kick to the opposition from the nearest sideline of the penalty area, but just outside it.
How Likely Is It This Rule Change Will Last?
While the reasons for the introduction of this rule change are obvious, it will likely draw its fair share of opposition – especially from some parents who want to see their child develop all parts of their game at an even pace, particularly those parents who take their kids’ football seriously.
However, there will be other parents who are in favour of this if they are just focused on their children having fun and concerned about their safety – maybe even having plans for them that lie more in academia.
The likelihood of this rule change lasting though potentially veers on the side of that it won’t, especially if this is deemed to have a negative effect on technical development moving forward, such as being afraid to head the ball in later years and could well affect club academies negatively. Time will tell.