Objective In 2015, due to ongoing litigation the U.S Soccer Federation banned heading for players 10–13 years of age. The purpose of this study was to assess the change in proportion of children aged 10–13 playing soccer in the United States presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) with a concussion in relation to any other injury before and after the 2015 header ban.

Design Descriptive Epidemiological Study.

Setting Over 100 U.S. Hospital ED’s participating in the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS).

Participants 7496 soccer athletes (2920 female, 4576 male) between the ages of 10–13 that reported to a US hospital ED following injury in 2013–2014 and in 2016–2017.

Interventions (or Assessment of Risk Factors) Multivariable logistic regression was performed to assess the association between year of injury and concussion diagnosis in relation to any other injury diagnosis after controlling for age, gender, and ethnicity.

Outcome Measures Physician diagnosis of concussion or any other injury in ED.

Main Results Concussion in relation to all other injuries showed a statistically significant increase in 2016–2017 when compared to 2013–2014 after controlling for all covariates (OR= 1.286, 95%CI = 1.090–1.517).

Conclusions These results suggest that banning heading in soccer may not reduce concussion. The increase concussion may reflect increased reporting due to policy and educational measures by the U.S. Soccer Federation after the ban.