Effectively immediately in concurrence with US Soccer’s concussion initiative the Youth Board adopted the following provision from the USSF R2R Guidelines at their March meeting.
- No header for any player age 10 or younger, regardless of the age group in which they are playing.
- No headers for all players in U11 age group or younger.
- Limited headers in practice for players age 11 to 13; no more than 20 per week.
- No limit on heading in games for players age 11 and older.
Violations during a game will result in the referee awarding an indirect free kick to the opposing team when a player deliberately heads the ball from the spot of the offense. If the deliberate header occurs in the goal area, the indirect free kick should be taken on the goal area line nearest to the point where the infringement occurred. If a player does not deliberately head the ball, then play should continue.