Concussions aren’t often associated with soccer but one Ottawa teenager found out the hard way that repeatedly heading the ball can be very dangerous.
17 year old Grace Caldbick plays competitive soccer with the Nepean Hotspurs. Just over a month ago she was sidelined with a concussion and she can’t even attend school.
"I was in a tournament in Oshawa and it was the 3rd game of the day and I guess I had taken one too many headers,” says Grace.
“Usually I don’t feel dizzy after I take them and I could barely stand or run and I had trouble talking too.”
There is a proper way to head a ball says Jimmy Zito, Coach of the Ottawa Fury. "You want to take the ball just above the eyebrows, and have the eyes to be open the entire time, and bite the teeth together so you don't get a concussion."
In 2011 researchers in the United States did brain scans on soccer players who frequently headed the ball and found changes in their brains similar to those in people with a traumatic brain injury.
Think First Canada has developed soccer guidelines that state players under age 10 should never head the ball.
CTV’s Natalie Pierosara will have a full report tonight at six.
