Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) has today announced a partnership with HeadingPro, as the PFA continues its efforts to tackle the issue of concussion and head injuries in football. 

  • Through partnership the PFA will purchase 150 balls to distribute to PFA members and community partners John Moriarty Football and Football Empowerment
  • HeadingPro will donate 10% of future sales to the PFA’s Footballers’ Trust, with funds to be directed towards concussion and heading research
  • PFA Co-Chief Executive Beau Busch says the PFA must “take every possible step to reduce the risk to the health and safety of all players”

HeadingPro is a unique football developed by former A-League player and former PFA Player Development Manager Dean Heffernan and his colleague, Andrew Head, who is a specialist in football product development.

The ball has been designed specifically to reduce the impact of heading, with its unique composition reducing the ball’s weight by 40% in comparison with regular footballs. 

This design helps to decrease head acceleration by almost 50% in youth players compared with an IFAB regulated ball, which has been evidenced through research by University of Sydney’s Dr Kerry Peek.

Through the partnership the PFA will purchase 150 balls, with the PFA’s members from across the W-League, A-League, Y-League, Academy, National Teams and Past Players Program able to request a ball for their own use, with the PFA donating additional balls to community partners John Moriarty Football and Football Empowerment. 

In addition, the partnership will see HeadingPro donate 10% of all sales to the PFA’s Footballers’ Trust with the funds to go towards concussion and heading research. 

Heffernan said that he was proud to play a role in educating players on safe heading practices by providing a resource that can contribute to positive change.

“The heading pro ball was designed to assist the current and next generation of players practice the art of heading in the safest way possible. It’s great to have the PFA’s support and we are proud to donate 10% of sales back to the Footballer’s Trust for further research around heading and its links to brain injuries.” 

Dr. Peak, who specialises in the mitigation of sports-related head and neck injuries including concussion, utilised the HeadingPro ball in research that demonstrated a reduction in head acceleration.

“We incorporated the HeadingPro ball into our research when investigating the effects of ball mass and pressure on head acceleration during heading in youth football players. We found that, on average, the HeadingPro ball demonstrated 50% lower head acceleration when compared to a regulated match ball at match pressure.”

PFA Co-Chief Executive Beau Busch said the game had a responsibility to help educate players on heading injuries and concussion.

“At a time when football is exploring every avenue to address the issue of concussion and its impacts, it’s wonderful to partner with HeadingPro. We have seen both globally and domestically the devastating potential impact of concussion, and through the research of leading experts such as Dr Kerry Peek we are now gaining greater insight into the risks associated with heading.

“As such it is critical that we continue to be guided by medical experts and take every possible step to reduce the risk to the health and safety of all players.”

The PFA provides concussion education to all A-League and W-League players prior to the season.

For more information on HeadingPro visit HeadingPro.com