HEADING GUIDANCE issued by the FA for immediate effect.
HEADLINES:
- No heading in training in the foundation phase (primary school children)
- Graduated approach to heading for children in the development phase U12-U16
- U18 heading drills should be reduced, to take into consideration the heading exposure in matches
- Don’t over inflate the footballs: use the lowest pressure authorised by the Laws of the Game
- The age for when the ball size is increased will go up by 1 year from June 2020 for size 4’s.
Age Group Heading frequency
- U7, U8, U9, U10, U11 Heading should not be introduced in training sessions at this age
- U12 Heading remains a low priority – 1 session per month & max 5 headers
- U13 Heading remains a low priority – 1 session per week & max 5 headers
- U14, U15, U16 Heading remains a low priority – 1 session per week & max 10 headers
- U18 Heading drills should be reduced as far as possible, taking into consideration the heading exposure in matches
Changes to Ball Size usage
U6-U9 BALL SIZE 3
U10 BALL retained at SIZE 3 from 1/6/2020
U11 new age to move to BALL SIZE 4 from 1/6/2020
U15 BALL SIZE 5