HEAD INJURIES SEEN AS BIGGEST YOUTH SOCCER RISK.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

WASHINGTON - As children across America put on their shin guards and head to the fields, the Institute of Medicine is reminding parents that soccer can be dangerous, leading to concussions and other head injuries.

Concussions are common in soccer, and coaches and parents need better training to identify and treat young athletes and prevent them from suffering further, life-threatening head injuries, the institute said.

``A lot of people, parents anyway, found soccer more appealing for their kids because they saw it as less dangerous than football,'' said Janet Joy, who prepared the review. ``But the fact is, concussions are just as frequent in soccer.''

Players can get concussions from heading the ball, colliding, running into goal posts or hitting their heads on the ground. A player who sustains a second concussion before recovering from the first may suffer brain swelling that could lead to brain damage and death.

Because young people's brains are still developing, they may be more at risk for serious injury from concussions than adults, the report said.

``The identification of the concussion is not an easy thing; our coaches are moms and dads with very little training,'' said Lolly Keys, chief spokeswoman for the national American Youth Soccer Organization in Hawthorne, who had seen the report.

``We're going to have to go back to the drawing board as to how to be able to discern whether a child has been concussed.''

On the whole, Keys added, youth soccer is a wholesome sport that features, smaller, lighter soccer balls. Of the between 175,000 and 200,000 athletes who participate in AYSO soccer in Los Angeles, 90 percent are under 14 - of which those under 10 are discouraged from head-butting play.

``It's important that kids learn to head correctly; it's part of the game,'' she said. ``When kids are older, heading comes more into play.''

About 19 million Americans played soccer in 2001, making it one of the fastest growing team sports, according to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association.

The report was compiled from doctors' statements at an Institute of Medicine workshop last October on the long-term effects of the game on children's brains. While the report makes no conclusions on the long-term dangers of playing soccer or, specifically, heading balls, it says more studies are needed.

``The most critical studies haven't been done,'' Joy said.

Some doctors, however, doubted the report, saying they saw more injuries in baseball than in soccer.

``I've been coaching (soccer) seven years and have never seen a single head injury,'' said Dr. Samuel Fink, a Tarzana internist and father of four children, three who play organized soccer.

``The only injuries I see are the bruises on the lower legs because kids forget to wear their shin guards.'' Adults often use unreliable methods to diagnose concussions, the report says. Coaches frequently depend on athletes to speak up when they think they have a concussion, but players are no more aware of how to diagnose the condition than adults and may ignore symptoms so they can keep playing.

``A kid is going to lie to go back into the game,'' said Don Kirkendall of the University of North Carolina's department of physical education, exercise and sports sciences. ``They're going to say, Yeah, I'm fine. ... No, I'm not dizzy.''

Coaches should ask their players about recent memories; deep-seated ones, such as what school they attend, are not affected by concussions, said Kirkendall, who spoke at the conference.

``You ask the kid: Who passed the ball? What hit you? What was the first thing of you to hit the ground? Can you describe the play?'' Kirkendall said.

``When in doubt, hold them out,'' he said.

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Photo:

Ethan Mark, 9, of Studio City does a header Tuesday while practicing his soccer juggling at a Valley park.

David Sprague/Staff Photographer