Importance of Headgear in Soccer Essay Sample

Have you ever played soccer and gained an injury while doing so? Have you thought about the potential risks of playing without protective gear? If you haven’t, you should read on to learn more about the importance of what headgear can do for you and those around you when playing soccer! Headgear can do a variety of things to protect you from harm like lowering the effects of a concussion or any other physical trauma that may occur when playing soccer. Headgear doesn’t only protect players from the ball but also head-to-head contact with other players. Hence headgear should be worn in soccer for the protection it provides and its benefits.

Headgear can provide loads of protection to all players alike by lowering the effects of a concussion and other physical trauma to the body. This is proven in the article “Evidence mounts for headgear in soccer”, where it states “On the basis of this and on angular acceleration, they calculated that the best of headgear significantly reduced the risk for concussion from head to head contact. At 3m/s, the risk was 10% without headgear and 5% with headgear. At 4m/s, it was 56% without and 7% with…”. This shows that headgear can reduce the risks of concussions by a large percentage. This also shows how much risk players are at when they’re playing without headgear. Therefore, headgear should be worn during soccer games.

Another way headgear can help those playing soccer is their benefits in the long road. Many injuries can be devastating to the player if not taken seriously as shown in the article “Protect My head? Soccer pros shrug and carry on”, which states, “It's likely that more than one world cup player will get a head injury during the month-long tournament that just kicked off. Some will shake it off and return to play (just like morocco’s Amrabat who rejoined his teammates), while others will get a serious concussion that could lead to health issues down the road.” This means that many players may have injuries that are dangerous to their health and careers without even knowing about them. This could in turn lead to more problems for their health, stopping the sport of soccer altogether. Hence it’s clear headgear should be worn for the benefits and protection they provide.

While some people may say that helmets may actually increase the number of injuries like in text 3 where it states,” First, Wearing headgear makes the head heavier. Most soccer concussions occur because of ‘acceleration-deceleration injury or rational change like a boxer may get’, Robinson said,” this means that people may believe that headgear may cause more injuries to those using them. It also means that they think it doesn’t fix the current issues soccer players face. Other studies may think otherwise, in-text 4 tells us that the headgear can actually prevent concussions at a large percentage as shown here… “While direct head-to-head hits generated a force of 150g’s (150 times the accelerative of gravity), compared to an average of 100g’s force of gravity, compared to an average of 100g’s during football hits, the headband could reduce that acceleration. The three best headband models received a five-star rating in a system devised by Rowson’s team at Virginia Tech: five stars translate to a reduction in concussion risk of at least 70 percent.” This piece of text evidence disproves the claim that headgear provides no protection and may add more injuries to the players using them. Therefore headgear should be worn in soccer.

For all of these reasons, there should be no doubt that soccer players should be wearing headgear. Headgear provides an essential role by offering protection against concussions and benefits to those who use them. Headgear can change how soccer is played for the safety of those who enjoy them which will in turn make it more popular and less risky to play. If you consider yourself a soccer player, you should consider using headgear when you play. It may protect you and those around you from serious health problems both in the short and long term. In conclusion, headgear should be worn for the protection and benefits that they provide in soccer.