Article: HEAD GAMES\Soccer players who hit the ball with their heads risk serious\injury; what's a coach to do?(SPORTS)

Byline: Lee Barnathan Special to the Daily News

Several years ago, North Hollywood High School girls' soccer player Erin Wade had a club coach who tried to convince her that heading a soccer ball isn't dangerous.

"He said, 'Look it won't hurt,' and he'd head the ball and it goes really far, and we're all impressed," she said. "But two seconds later, there was this big bruise on his head. That kind of did it for me."

To this day, Wade avoids hitting the ball with her head because she's afraid of hurting herself.

A 1995 study at Virginia Commonwealth University offered a larger reason to avoid heading - it found decreased mental ...

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