It is a universally accepted fact that football is shockingly slow in the face of the terrible reality that a header can kill generations of players. Given the growing evidence that headballs can lead to dementia, some experts have pleaded with soccer governing bodies to ban the use of heads in the sport — a program that emerged five years ago. But there's no indication that this will happen anytime soon, so can virtual reality (VR) help in the meantime?
Scientists at manchester Metropolitan University's Institute of Sport are experimenting with a new virtual reality platform, the Player 22, designed to train footballers to top the ball without exposing them to the potential dangers of doing so. Created by Manchester-based cognitive development and analytics company Rezzil, Player 22 features users wearing a pair of VR glasses while performing a series of virtual tasks aimed at improving soccer skills. The players are not real headers, but virtual headers.
Rezzil co-founder Andy Etches told the media: "There are clear benefits to reducing the number of headers a player has in practice. This is especially important for young players, as is recent rule changes in football associations around the world. Rezzil can help ensure players are still able to practice and improve their header technique in a non-contact manner. We're working on a series of studies that might link the two, but we have reason to think we can help in that regard. ”
Given the growing concern in the medical community that dizziness can have fatal consequences, VR intervention is crucial. According to a landmark study published last year in the journal JAMA Neurology, former professional players are three and a half times more likely to die from dementia than the general population, and more than five times more likely to die from Alzheimer's disease than the general population. Dr Willie Stewart, who led the study on lifelong health and dementia risk at the University of Glasgow, told the UK media: "Based on the current data, we would now like to point out that football should be labeled with a health warning when it is sold, saying that repeated headers in football may lead to an increased risk of dementia. ”
Dr. Stewart's naked revelation must have been a huge blow to the footballers and their families suffering from this barbaric and relentless disease. By this year it has been 20 years since former West Bromwich And England striker Jeff Astel became the first English footballer to die of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a form of dementia. Astor died at the age of 59, and his traumatic brain injury proved to be caused by repeated headers from football. Since Astor's death in January 2002, five of England's 1966 World Cup-winning teams – Ray Wilson, Martin Peters, Nobby Styles, Sir Bobby Charlton and Sir Jack Charlton – have all suffered from related illnesses. Countless other lesser-known footballers have also been plagued by this devastating condition, but the news of the legend's struggle seems to have pushed the football community to the brink of action.
In February 2020, children under the age of 12 in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland were banned from heading in training, a far cry from similar initiatives in countries such as the United States. Gary Reinkel and Alain Shearer, a former member of the England national team, issued a joint statement last year asking authorities to urgently implement a new measure to deal with the dementia crisis that the sport brings. The group calls it a "ticking time bomb." The FA, Premier League and EFL, with the support of the players' union, have announced that they will limit the number of "high-intensity" headers in training to 10 per week. However, Dr. Stewart believes that these measures are not enough. He said they had "no scientific basis" and insisted that no type of header would reduce risk.
Researchers at the Sports Institute at Manchester Metropolitan University have been testing the Player 22's effectiveness in improving player header technique by comparing training skills with or without virtual reality systems. Dr Greg Wood, senior lecturer in sport and sport psychology at the Sports Institute at The Metropolitan University of Manchester, told the media: "Research shows that head-kick ability can reduce the risk of subconscious events in footballers. So, we're investigating whether learning a header in virtual reality can improve the ability to make a header more capable without exposing players to the repetition of the header. We had three groups of college football players participating: a control group that did not train for headers; a group of virtual reality teams that performed three 30-minute training sessions over a 10-day period in virtual reality simulations; and a group of physical practice groups that performed three 30-minute actual head training sessions over a period of 10 days in the real world. ”
"We take pre- and post-event measurements of header skills in the 'real' world and measure perceived header ability and confidence. We are currently analyzing this data and hope to achieve some results in the coming months. Dr. Wood is excited to be part of "what could be a revolution in athletic training," "virtual reality, in my opinion, has a big place in elite sports, and we just need to figure out where it's best suited to have the biggest impact on player performance and health." He said that after the current trial, he plans to conduct a further study that includes longer training sessions, more participants and "possibly better players."
Rezzil's Ecchez believes his technique can be widely used by professional teams and academies to reduce the time spent with the ball when practicing headers. He said: "Unfortunately, teams (currently using this technology) don't allow us to use their names for press statements, but we work individually with six Premier League teams and players from the EFL. We also work with a number of other teams around the world, including national teams and league teams. There's no reason Why Rezzil can't be used to learn set-pieces while practicing general timing and frequent game situations. I believe that over time, this will become a normal part of the team's training at all levels. We are already working with elite teams, individual professionals and grassroots players in this area. ”
Jeff Astor's daughter Dawn Astor supports Rezzil's innovation. Astel is leading a dedicated dementia unit at the Professional Footballers Association (PFA) as part of the union's push to ensure support for former players with neurodegenerative diseases is a "top priority". She told the media: "I think anything we can do should be welcomed to reduce the terrible risk of neurodegenerative diseases for our footballers." ”
Whether football needs to make bold changes and ban headers altogether remains a hotly debated question. However, Dr. Wood is not currently in favor of this happening. He said: "I think the odds of a former professional player developing dementia are very worrying, but I think there is not enough understanding of the role that football plays in this process to ban football altogether. Advances in soccer design, and perhaps even a style of play in modern football that produces fewer headers, may reduce the risk of disease in modern soccer players, but it's really hard to say. We certainly need to do more research into the effects of soccer heads on brain development and function. "Although this still seems to be an unknown direction at present, people have already started to act, and the results should not be too far away."