The Effect of Modified Soccer Headgear on the force of a Soccer Ball during Soccer Heading

Author(s)

Tyler White, SVHS

School Name

Spring Valley High School

Grade Level

10th Grade

Presentation Topic

Engineering

Presentation Type

Non-Mentored

Abstract

Soccer is the most played sport in the world, with over 256 million people actively playing “The Beautiful Game.” Soccer is also the only sport where the players intentionally use their head to clear, pass, and score the ball. An estimated 300, 000 sport-related brain injuries occur every year in the United States, and 8.9% of high school injuries and 5.8% of college injuries are concussions (Gessel et. al, 2007). In response to multiple studies showing the dangers of heading, soccer headgear was created. Its purpose is to reduce forces on the brain caused by contact to the head, whether it be via ball, player, or ground. These headgears wrap around the head and are made of foam and other force-absorbing materials. The purpose of the experiment was to determine the best material for force reduction for soccer headgear. It was hypothesized that the modified headgear, specifically expanded polyethylene, would significantly decrease impact force of the ball on the head. A force sensitive resistor was used to track the force of three groups, expanded polypropylene, expanded polystyrene, and the control. The speed was controlled as well. The statistics showed that the polypropylene was statistically better at reducing force than the control and polystyrene. Polystyrene was not an effective material for force resistance. The success of the polypropylene is possibly due to the hexagonal shape, in comparison to the circular shape of polystyrene and the control headgear.

Location

Lassiter 118

Start Date

4-14-2018 9:15 AM

Presentation Format

Oral and Written

COinS
 
Apr 14th, 9:15 AM

The Effect of Modified Soccer Headgear on the force of a Soccer Ball during Soccer Heading

Lassiter 118

Soccer is the most played sport in the world, with over 256 million people actively playing “The Beautiful Game.” Soccer is also the only sport where the players intentionally use their head to clear, pass, and score the ball. An estimated 300, 000 sport-related brain injuries occur every year in the United States, and 8.9% of high school injuries and 5.8% of college injuries are concussions (Gessel et. al, 2007). In response to multiple studies showing the dangers of heading, soccer headgear was created. Its purpose is to reduce forces on the brain caused by contact to the head, whether it be via ball, player, or ground. These headgears wrap around the head and are made of foam and other force-absorbing materials. The purpose of the experiment was to determine the best material for force reduction for soccer headgear. It was hypothesized that the modified headgear, specifically expanded polyethylene, would significantly decrease impact force of the ball on the head. A force sensitive resistor was used to track the force of three groups, expanded polypropylene, expanded polystyrene, and the control. The speed was controlled as well. The statistics showed that the polypropylene was statistically better at reducing force than the control and polystyrene. Polystyrene was not an effective material for force resistance. The success of the polypropylene is possibly due to the hexagonal shape, in comparison to the circular shape of polystyrene and the control headgear.