Soccer player wants helmets to become mandatory

A Sudbury man says soccer players should wear more protective gear.

Gabriel Rodrigues, 21, was put out of the game for two months after he suffered a concussion last year.

"I was about to puke, I was about to fall down. And I couldn't even stand up,” he recalled about the injury.

Now he wants other players to protect themselves like he does — he is now wearing a foam headband and a mouth guard.

“Head injuries, basically, are becoming a nuisance in soccer and … there's not enough … care for it,” Rodrigues said.

But a chiropractor in Sudbury said more research is needed to determine the effectiveness of soccer helmets.

“When you look at what head trauma is, it's post-concussive blows inside the area,” Dr. Tiffany Locke said.

“So it may protect you from having impact on the outside of the brain. But it doesn't protect you on the inside.”

Dr. Jack Ceasar, who specializes in sport and exercise medicine in Sudbury, said research shows soccer helmets don't necessarily decrease the rate of concussions.

"It may actually give a player a false sense that they are being protected against a concussion when in fact they're not."

The executive director of the Sudbury Regional Soccer Association, Wayne Trainor, said he fears if helmets become mandatory, soccer fees could go up and participation could go down.

He's doesn't believe helmets belong in the sport.

"We're at the point now where it seems like we want to bubble wrap children from the time they're born until they're 18, and it just doesn't work in all facets of life," he said.

Trainor added soccer is one of the most accessible sports in the world, and if more safety equipment is enforced, fewer kids will be able to play the sport.

But Gabriel Rodrigues is convinced he's taken enough chances — and plans on wearing a helmet as long as he plays the beautiful game.