Only in Amer... no wait...

[viper37]

Only in the UK.

Harewood Junior School bans leather footballs from playground

A junior school in  Gloucester has banned leather footballs from being used in the  playground because of health and safety concerns.
Harewood Junior School in Tuffley, attended by seven to 11  year-olds, banned the leather balls following a "number of accidents"  last year.
In the weekly newsletter, head teacher Andrea Mills said only sponge or soft balls would be used in the playground.
The school declined to comment further on the decision.   'Unbelievable'          In the newsletter, Mrs Mills said the decision was made  following a number of incidents last year and pupils and staff had  agreed on the decision.
Mrs Mills said: "We will still be using the correct size leather balls for football club and specific PE lessons."
The move has been criticised by a charity.
Tam Fry, chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, said: "This kind of decision suits only the die hards of health and safety.
"George Best and all the football stars wouldn't have got  where they are if they were kicking sponge around, they kicked footballs  in the backyard and if they fell over and scarred themselves it was  part of the learning curve.
"No one wants a child to be damaged by having a football  kicked at them, but it's just unbelievable that we should be preventing  our children learning things."
Gloucestershire County Council said: "It is up to individual  schools to make decisions like this. Gloucestershire County Council has  not advised them to do this."

**

Soccer is a dangerous sport.  Let's keep the kids inside, while they're at it, they will suffer much less sport-related injuries if they don't do sport

[DGuller]

Soccer is a terrible sport for kids to play.  Those constant headers can't be good for your brain.

[Zoupa]

It's rare to have headers in soccer. Especially at that age, where you're just running around with no structure to the play.

[DontSayBanana]

It's rare to have headers in soccer. Especially at that age, where you're just running around with no structure to the play.

Now if one were to make a case for knee damage arising from soccer/football...

[Brazen]

Seems fair to me. Fifa has been using a fully-synthetic ball in the World Cup since 1986.

A large number of football players in the past have suffered long-term brain damage because of repeated heading of a heavy, wet ball. Stan Cullis, the Wolves and England centre-half was knocked unconscious during a game against Everton in the 1938-39 season. He suffered severe concussion that required intensive medical care. His doctors warned him that another serious concussion could kill him. A couple of years later a tremendous shot hit him in the face. Once again he suffered from severe concussion and was on the danger list for five days. He was warned by a doctor that because of his previous head injuries, even heading a heavy leather football could prove fatal and despite now being England's captain, Cullis decided to retire from playing football. In his later years, Cullis, like many footballers from this period, suffered from dementia. In 2002 a coroner said it was likely that the death of former West Bromwich Albion centre-forward, Jeff Astle, had been caused by "repeated small traumas to the brain".

Research carried out by D. R. Williams in 2002 concluded that repetitive mild head trauma over the course of an amateur and professional footballer's career may increase an individual's risk of developing dementia in later life. Former players who have suffered from this disease include Joe Mercer and Bob Paisley.

[Josquius]

This is news?
My primary school back when I were but a wee lad banned proper footballs in the playground, we had to play with a tennis ball. And it was that way since I first started, went back god knows how long.
The trouble isn't the kids actually playing football but the other kids who have to share the same small playground and might be totally oblivious toe the football game going on around them.

[Brazen]

This is news?
My primary school back when I were but a wee lad banned proper footballs in the playground, we had to play with a tennis ball. And it was that way since I first started, went back god knows how long.
The trouble isn't the kids actually playing football but the other kids who have to share the same small playground and might be totally oblivious toe the football game going on around them.

But wasn't it already something like 2000 when you were 11?

[Josquius]

This is news?
My primary school back when I were but a wee lad banned proper footballs in the playground, we had to play with a tennis ball. And it was that way since I first started, went back god knows how long.
The trouble isn't the kids actually playing football but the other kids who have to share the same small playground and might be totally oblivious toe the football game going on around them.

But wasn't it already something like 2000 when you were 11?

97. So long ago
But I started primary school in 1991, even further back.

[Ideologue]

banned leather footballs

Good, but not because children are pussies.