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Introduction

Physical activity is an essential part of being healthy. In children, activity helps build strong bones and muscles, decreases the likelihood of developing obesity, and promotes positive mental health. Children are recommended to have 60 minutes or more of physical activity daily.

In the United States, more than 30 million children and teens participate in sports. Of that number, approximately 3.5 million children and adolescents ages fourteen and under are hurt annually while participating in recreational activities. In 2002, The National Safe Kids Campaign estimated that 13,700 children were treated in hospital emergency rooms for ice skating related injuries. Many of these are preventable head injuries if protective equipment, such as helmets or halos, is used.

Gliding across the ice, with the cool wind whipping across a skater’s face is an exhilarating feeling. One push can propel a skater far down the glistening, snowy surface. Worrying about a head injury is often far from a skater’s mind, as many participants are not aware of the possibility of head injury from ice skating. The goals of this article are to raise awareness about potential head injury from ice skating and to promote the use of helmets in skating, similar to what is required in cycling, skiing, and ice hockey.

Review of Injury Statistics

A concussion is a mild form of head injury, usually due to a blow to the head, which may cause disorientation, memory loss, or unconsciousness. Repeated concussions and loss of consciousness can result in traumatic brain injury or TBI.

An estimated 10% of all head and spinal cord injuries are due to sports related activities. Socially, athletes can feel undue pressure from family, coaches, and teammates to return to play quickly after a head injury. These influences can prevent an athlete from receiving the medical care he or she requires. In particular, parents and coaches can push their children too hard in an attempt to fulfill their own athletic aspirations. Athletes who return to play too soon or who suffer repeated injury to the head can develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, whose symptoms can include slowed speech, confusion, tremors, and mental deterioration. Most recently, CTE gained media attention when a settlement was reached with the National Football League, or NFL and thousands of players and families. The case, which involved more than 4,500 plaintiffs, calls for the NFL to pay for medical exams, compensation, and research related to head injuries sustained while playing professional football. Plaintiffs are committed to making the game safer at all levels and to educate the public; including parents of the four million children who play youth and high school football. Plaintiffs are committed to helping the focus on player safety trickle down to the youth level.

Awareness and education are key factors in injury prevention and return to play decisions. When an athlete suffers a head injury, a sideline assessment using the Standardized Assessment of Concussion should be completed by a medical professional. If a physician is not available, the coach can complete a basic assessment, until medical attention is available. The assessment includes tests of eye response, verbal response, and motor response. Telling a child to «shake it off» could have a grave impact on the child’s long term health.

Research concluded that safety measures in organized sports should include helmet requirements. There are approximately 230,000 cases of hospitalization due to traumatic brain injury annually of which 80,000 suffer long term disability and 50,000 result in fatalities. Five to twenty percent of these injuries are incurred during sports and recreational activities. Organized team sports, in particular football, soccer and ice hockey, have high instances of concussion annually in addition to recreational sports such as skating and bicycling. Helmets that are properly fitted and worn by participants of these activities can help reduce the risk of head injury among participants.

Sports and Helmet Rules

Cycling

In March 2003, professional cyclist Andrey Kivilev collided with two other riders during the Paris Nice ride. Kivilev was not wearing a helmet and catapulted head first off his bicycle. He fell immediately into a coma and was diagnosed with a serious skull fracture. Kivilev underwent surgery, but died shortly thereafter due to the severity of the head injury. He was 29 years old and the leader of the Cofidis cycling team. His death triggered the International Cycling Union, or UCI to implement compulsory wearing of helmets in all endorsed races.

Helmets protect the head by reducing the rate at which the skull and the brain are accelerated and decelerated during an impact effectively acting as a shock absorber between the force of the impact and the brain. Upon impact, the polystyrene liner of the helmet crushes thereby dissipating energy over a wider area. Instituting mandatory helmet policies in sports proves to be a divisive and controversial issue. Although research has demonstrated that helmets reduce injury in low speed crashes, helmet evidence is not conclusive with respect to high speed crashes. Kivilev’s accident occurred at approximately 35 kilometers per hour or about 22 miles per hour which is considered relatively low speed. At the time, he was ranked among the top 100 racers in the world.

Due to his high profile in the global cycling community, Kivilev’s death elevated the helmet debate into the media spotlight. Following this seminal UCI rule change, USA Cycling also revised their helmet policy to provide that in order to host an event sanctioned by USA Cycling, all participants are required to wear helmets.

In recreational cycling in the United States, bicycle helmet laws can vary widely. Currently, only twenty one states and the District of Columbia have instituted helmet laws for bicyclists below a certain age, which is generally 16 years-old. California requires helmets for riders 18 years and younger and only the Virgin Islands requires helmets for all riders. Twenty nine states have no bicycle helmet laws currently in place.

Researchers conducted a study which demonstrates helmet usage. This study directly observed 841 children in Texas who participated in bicycle riding, in line skating, skateboarding, and scooter riding over an eight week period. Whereas helmet rules vary county to county within Texas, most counties require helmets for riders age 16 years-old and younger. This study employed a randomly selected sample of children engaging in such activities from communities with populations equal to or greater than 1000. Children under 6 years-old, females and those riding on specified bike paths were found to wear helmets more frequently than other children.

Several factors often contribute to children not wearing helmets. During warmer months, children complain about high temperatures and accordingly are less inclined or willing to wear their helmets as riders feel they do not have proper ventilation inside the helmet. Parental knowledge and awareness is another contributing factor. Parents are often unfamiliar with applicable helmet laws nor are they informed of the potential risks of injury resulting from the failure to wear proper safety equipment. In a study examining data from1990 2005, there were in excess of 6,000,000 cases of children age 18 years-old and younger treated in emergency rooms for bicycle related injuries.

Skiing

In March 2009, actress Natasha Richardson sustained a head injury while taking a routine, beginner ski lesson. Initially she refused medical attention, however seven hours later, she was admitted to the hospital suffering from an epidural hematoma, a type of traumatic brain injury. She succumbed to her injuries and died the following day. Michael Kennedy, son of Robert F. Kennedy, died in 1997 following a skiing accident in Aspen, Colorado. A week later, Sonny Bono, television star and politician, died on the slopes of South Lake Tahoe. Richardson, Kennedy, and Bono were not wearing helmets.

Researchers studied injury rates at the three largest ski areas in Scotland during three winter seasons. The study found that first day participants are at an increased risk of injury due in part to low skill levels amongst the beginners. They concluded that first day participants should be targeted in educational programs about gear selection and protective equipment.

A study of skiers and snowboarders was conducted in Colorado where approximately 10 fatalities occur annually. Among the fatally injured, head injury proved the cause of death in 87.5% of the cases and none were wearing helmets. Of the 400 skiers and snowboarders admitted to the hospital with traumatic brain injuries, only five were wearing helmets. In the most serious case, the patient ascended off a 40 foot cliff, landed on his head, cracking his helmet in half. Whereas he sustained a severe concussion with unconsciousness, the computed topography, or CT scan proved negative and with inpatient rehabilitation, the patient has made a full recovery and is attending college.

In 2011, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie signed a bill into law requiring all skiers and snowboarders under 18 years to wear helmets with the intent to reduce head injuries on the slopes. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a similar bill in 2010 however the measure was nullified following his veto of a companion bill that would have required California ski resorts to submit safety plans and reports to state officials. At the professional levels, the governing body of skiing, the Federation Internationale de Ski, requires a helmet as mandatory equipment for all downhill and Super G events.

Ice Hockey

In 1968, Bill Masterson of the Minnesota North Stars landed headfirst on the ice after being checked by two players from the Oakland Seals. He was not wearing a helmet and as a direct result died due to the severity of his head injury. Prior to this incident, the helmets use had been stigmatized which contributed to a lack of widespread use. However, as a consequence of this incident, the stigma surrounding the use of helmets began to diminish and ultimately in 1979, the National Hockey League, or NHL instituted a mandatory helmet policy. The policy did not apply uniformly at the outset as certain veteran players were grandfathered out of the new requirement. Such players elected to continue playing without helmets alongside new players who were subject the policy. Initially, the NHL and the players themselves faced harsh criticism from fans and the media. Despite the clear evidence of risks associated without helmets, some believed the policy harmed the integrity of the game and diminished the players’ masculinity.

Since the policy was first instituted more than three decades ago, significant research supporting the value and need for helmets has been documented. The hockey community has become supportive of the rule change particularly as a significant number of current hockey enthusiasts have never experienced the sport in which helmets were not employed and required. As with many elements of professional sports, the helmet policy was then instituted within youth hockey. The youth hockey governing board, USA Hockey, not only requires all players to wear helmets, they have mandated that all helmets employed by the players must be approved by the Hockey Equipment Certification Council, or HECC. Additionally, beginning in 2006, USA Hockey extended the helmet requirement to coaches who must wear helmets during on ice practice. The requirement for coaches provides the dual benefit of increased safety for all on ice participants as well as an opportunity for the authority figure to model appropriate safety practices. This continues to reinforce the value and importance of the use of safety equipment and in turn minimizes any residual stigma associated with wearing helmets on the ice.

In order to meet the requirements of the HECC, all helmets must undergo rigorous testing procedures including, without limitation, verifying the sufficiency of the coverage area, the quality of the protective material, and the degree of shock absorption. Aside from the specifications, the age, amount of use and type of each helmet all serve to impact the helmet’s effectiveness. The use of helmets with facial protection has proven effective in order to significantly decrease player injury at the amateur level. Whereas ice hockey is by nature a contact sport and checking is a significant cause of injury, the potential for injury is heightened further due to speed and surface tension. A study was conducted a study of 192 high schools in which 7,257 sports related injuries from 20 different sports were reported. From this total sample, 1,056, or 14.6% of injuries were concussions, 24% of which were sustained during boys’ ice hockey.

Ice Skating

In 1999, United Skates Pairs figure skaters, J. Paul Binnebose and Laura Handy were on track to make the 2002 Olympic team. While training at the University of Delaware, with Coach Ron Luddington, Binnebose fell on the ice, fracturing his skull. He suffered seizures, his heart stopped twice, and he was in a coma. Doctors removed a piece of his skull, allowing his brain to swell without pressure and heal. He was given a 10% chance of survival. Against the odds, he recovered.

Although the media widely publicizes celebrity sports related accidents, J. Paul Binnebose was not a well known star around the world. His story did not receive international media attention, but it is well known within the figure skating world. He and his coach have been working toward a helmet rule in skating for over a decade. They contend that many of the skating related injuries could be prevented or minimized with the use of a helmet.

Research suggests this notion is correct. An examination of pediatric skating related injuries was conducted in the years 1993-2003. The researchers sampled 1,235,467 children from emergency rooms with skating related injuries. Non random, purposeful sampling was used in this study. The data was collected from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, or NEISS, and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, known as CPSC.

The NEISS system has consumer product codes for each type of activity. Injuries were identified as ice skating, roller skating, or in line skating related, and coded accordingly. Ice hockey, roller hockey, and skateboarding were excluded from the study. Variables included the child’s gender and age, site of the injury, type of skating activity, mechanism of injury, use of protective equipment, and the injury diagnosis. Further, the injuries were categorized into 5 regions of the body.

The Centers for Disease Control report during the years 2001-2005, more than 200,000 emergency room visits for concussions and other traumatic brain injuries were recorded annually in the United States. Of those, 65% were found to be children ages 5 18 years-old who were participating in a sport or recreational activity. Children are at a greater risk for traumatic brain injuries with increased severity and a prolonged recovery. Thirty categories of sports and recreation head injuries were examined. Most of the sports demonstrated 2 7% annual emergency room visits for concussions and traumatic brain injuries. However, horseback riding, all terrain vehicle riding, and ice skating reported the highest instances of emergency room visits for traumatic brain injuries, with ice skating at 11.4%. Horseback riding and all terrain vehicle riding are activities where a secondary force carries the participant at a potentially high rate of speed; ice skating is a self propelled activity.

Researchers studied 419 children with injuries from ice skating, skateboarding, roller skating, and in line skating with the focus on head injury. Most injuries were to the face; 23 of 60 cases, 38.3%; and 12 additional injuries were to the head; 20%. Adult supervision was reported in 98.2% of the cases, and 78% reported no protective equipment use. The proportion of head injuries among ice skaters was greater than the participants in other types of skating, for which helmet use is recommended or required. Currently, there are no formal guidelines regarding the use of protective equipment in ice skating; however, studies show helmet use should be mandated for children.

A study of 80 patients who visited the Accident Service at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford for ice skating related injuries found that 56% were beginner skaters, defined as having skated less than 10 times. Eighty two and a half percent of the patients were 11 to 25 years-old. The study suggests that children who are beginner skaters are more likely to sustain injury than experienced skaters. Other research studies show similar results. In a study of 43 patients admitted to the Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital with ice skating related injuries, 65% were first time skaters. The study found need for increased public awareness about the risk of potential injury from ice skating and for preventative measures to improve safety.

Insurance companies strongly urge skating facilities to post a warning potential of risks at the entrance of the buildings, which releases the facilities from general liability. However, people visiting ice skating rinks are not well informed about the potential risks of the activity before arrival. Often they do not read posted placards. If provided with the background knowledge, ahead of their visit to the ice skating rink, many guests would have the opportunity to bring safety equipment from home. A need exists for a public awareness campaign.

Positive Effect of Sports Involvement

An ice skating rink is a place for children to visit on a regular basis, during their out of school time, to engage in positive, fun exercise. The key to helping the child enjoy their experience, and continue to return to the ice skating rink, is to make sure they have a positive first experience. This may not mean becoming an expert skater, but becoming competent on the ice that he/she can have a positive social experience and be «ice safe.» In order for this to happen, the participants must learn to skate with the proper safety equipment, including helmets. Once they learn the skill, he/she will continue to return to the facility with their friends. Having a positive place to go during out of school time will help the children avoid risky behaviors.

Conclusion

Cycling, skiing, and hockey have made changes in their safety guidelines based on the trends and statistics of head injuries in the sport. As the governing body for skating, the International Skating Union, known as the ISU has to take action to require worldwide helmet use for skaters. Once the ISU takes the first step, member countries can incorporate helmet rules into basic training programs and begin a public awareness campaign. Reducing the incidents of head injury will improve the overall safety of the sport. As safety improves, more people will continue participating in the sport of ice skating.

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According to USA Hockey, colleges and universities all across the nation are recruiting talented and skilled ice hockey players before they are even starting high school.  Verbal commitments are being made between prospects and perennial powerhouses like University of Wisconsin.  Talented players who do not want to take the college route are opting for the major junior system in Canada and then going pro at the young age of 18 or 19.  There is an increasing number of very young players in the National Hockey League, with a handful of them being made captain of their professional squads like Jonathan Toews and Sidney Crosby.  The emergence of young athletes assuming key roles in the elite circles of Division 1 and professional sports makes it appear to younger players that specializing is the way to go.  Ice Hockey is not the only sport identifying talent at unusually young ages.  Major football universities are finding players just beginning high school.  A lot can be said about the physical and mental development of an athlete in high school and college.  Schools like Yale University will not consider a young recruit for their varsity sports because they realize how much can change mentally for a teenager between the ages of 14 and 18.  For them, academic integrity is as important as athletic performance.  Therefore, making a guarantee four years early is not appealing to them.  They want to see where that candidate will be down the road before they make any commitments.  What happened to waiting around and shopping for the best?  We don’t elect Presidents 4 years before they are to take the oath, why should we choose what jersey an athlete will wear before they get there?  If you keep the competition to play close to the actual time they will be doing so, the road to get there will be more about the process and development.

Ten years ago, it was thought that athletes needed more time to develop and gain the competitive edge.  In ice hockey, post graduate programs (PG years) at prep schools and junior teams were common staples to get noticed by competitive college hockey programs.  It was thought that in order to have the edge, you needed the time to develop physically and mentally as well as gain the experience of playing with other like-minded athletes.  When you knew you had a long road ahead of you to make the college and professional ranks, specializing in your sport at 12 was not the smartest thing.  Parents, coaches, and experts worried that applying too much pressure at a young age to perform and excel would cause players to burn out prematurely.

Performance development coaches like myself believe that while players should focus primarily on two sports, that their programs should incorporate skills and abilities required to perform well in as many as 10 other sports or activities.  Even if you do not play baseball, ice hockey players who have the ability to go to a batting cage and hit a high percentage of the pitches.  Hockey players who can play baseball well will have better reaction times on the ice and will be better able to react to pucks in flight from a high shot or at fielding a bad pass.  Likewise, playing soccer is great developmentally for a budding ice hockey player because a lot of very skilled players are very good at carrying and handling the puck with their feet.  Whether your main sport is baseball or ice hockey, you can learn a lot from playing other sports like tennis, soccer, football, etc.

The spectrum is vast regarding what parents think their children should do.  Some want their children to be like Sidney Crosby and will force them to specialize at 8 years old and others want their kids to just have fun and will them do anything they want for however long they want.  Both approaches are bad.  Specializing or being aloof is bad.  The key is to keep the intensity, attention, encouragement, and vigor high with the expectation and pressure low.  Young athletes should be taught discipline, passion, a love for training and the sport, and heart.  The road to intercollegiate and professional sports is long.  The people who make it and stay there are the ones who love the unglamorous aspects, the long road trips, the sweat, the low pay (the pay for most professional athletes is not like ARod), the unforgiving schedule, and the inherent uncertainty that comes from a profession that is so fluid – where one day the best team wants you and the day the other team that will look at you is the farm club of the worst team.

Success comes from a love in what you do, whatever it is.  The day it becomes work is the day you know it might be time to consider a new path.  Athletes who play for the glory will be in store for a rude awakening.  The athletes who can weather adversity and overcome it through hard work and staying focused are the ones you know really love what they do.  The turnaround for the Tampa Bay Rays Baseball team shows outstanding determination, will, and passion for improving and bettering themselves.  They did not worry about playing as well as the perennial powerhouse teams like the Boston Red Sox.  They played the game the way they knew best and defined their run to the World Series their way and on their terms.  The way they went from the worst team in professional major league baseball to the World Series runner-up is an example of how individual athletes should approach their development.  You cannot go out there and just be in it for the win.  Unfortunately, the raw desire is not enough to get you there.  You need to be willing and able to put in the unappreciated and under valued hard work.  By doing so, you put yourself in a better position to start doing well.

As a sports development coach, I am useless to the person who just wants to play in a recreational league and get the fanfare when they score.  When someone is ready to work hard, put in long hours, and sweat – I am the perfect person for them.  I will help them get to where they want.  What I do has no glamour, other than the satisfaction in myself, knowing that I had a role in helping an athlete demonstrate their capabilities to an audience.  I do what I do because I have a love and passion for sports.  

The key to professional bliss is to specialize in a commitment to working hard.  Whatever else you do to get ahead will come after.  Do not worry about what nods you are getting at 14 to play college sports.  Keep your head down and stay focused on getting better.  A lot can happen in high school.  If you keep your options open at 14, you will have more to fall back on when you are 18.

If you specialize at 14 in football and it does not work out for you, there will be nothing else for you to fall back on.  If you play several sports and perform well in a couple of them, if one doesn’t lead to a paycheck or fame, maybe the other will.  The more options you have the less pressure you will feel on you to excel on at one, thereby making it more enjoyable.  Nobody wants to think that everything hinges on how you do in one thing.

Keep your options open and have fun, but remember you will not improve without putting in hard work.  So decide what your priorities are and then go from there.  If you don’t want to sweat or do the necessary things to improve your game, then don’t expect to play at the next level.  There is nothing wrong with playing pick-up games.  You have to be honest with yourself regarding your skill level and desire to put in the time required to make it.  Sidney Crosby, Eli Manning, Tom, Brady, Michael Jordan, and like company did not get to where they did just by coasting through life.  They assessed their abilities and accordingly set their mind on where they wanted to go.  Once they did that, they worked tirelessly to make sure they got there.  That due diligence is why they all became standouts in the professional arena.

The key thing to take away from this article is that you need more determination than skill.  And more importantly, you need more love than determination.  Therefore, you need more love than skill.  If you do not enjoy what you do, it will not matter how much skill you have because you will not want to do it anymore.  Being focused is different than specializing.  Play a lot of sports.  Stay active in many different things.  Do it because you love it.  You can decide later which one will let you do it in college or professionally.  You will benefit more from playing other sports and training for those sports than you will spending all that time training for one sport.  My program is so effective because despite your focus, I expose you to movements and drills common to other activities, thereby making you a more complete and well rounded athlete.

Stay tuned for more articles by DSWAthletes, owned and managed by Derrick Wong.  We write about all things sports.  We want to help you get to wherever you want to go and enjoy both the process and the outcome.  We will help you stay focused and in great shape.

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We have all heard of the trial of OJ Simpson, but not many people know about the original inspirational story of OJ Simpson, the greatest running back in National Football League during his time.

This inspirational story began when Orenthal James Simpson was on 9 July 1947 in San Francisco to Eunice and Jimmy Simpson. OJ was raised in poverty and his early days were spent in a Ghetto when food was always in short supply. As a result, OJ suffered from malnutrition and developed rickets. At the age of six, OJ’s legs became permanently bowed and his calf muscles suffered from severely atrophy. He acquired the nickname of ‘Pencil Legs» at an early age.

Growing up, OJ found his inspirational story in American Football through the All American running back Jim Brown from the Cleveland Browns. Brown was the best running back in the NFL at that time. But OJ was too poor to afford the tickets to see his idol in action whenever Cleveland visited San Francisco. That never stopped his dream and goal of becoming a star player in the future.

During those games when Cleveland played in San Francisco, OJ would diligently wait outside the stadium until the maintenance crew to open the stadium gates late in the 4th quarter. He would then go into the stadium and soak in the final few minutes of the game, dreaming for seeing his idol and also his own goals and inspirational story to become a professional football player.

On one of these occasions at the age of thirteen, he finally got his dream of meeting up with his idol, Jim Brown. As the inspirational story went, he approached Brown and said, «Mr. Brown, I am your biggest football fan!» Graciously, Brown thank thanked the young boy and went on his way. But OJ persisted by asking for Brown’s autograph. As Brown signed the autograph, OJ related to him how he had all his pictures on his wall, and that he knew all the football records that Brown held. Brown was flattered and thanked his young charge again. Before leaving, OJ surprised Brown by saying, «Mr. Brown, one day, I am going to break every one of your records!»

O.J. Simpson went on to break all but three of the rushing records held by Jim Brown before injuries shortened his football career and inspirational story.  Goal setting is the strongest force for human motivation.  Set a goal and make it come true.

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FIFA’s recent award of the Ballon d’Or 2014 (World Player of the Year) to Cristiano Ronaldo proves that the accolade is more about politics and personal popularity than about performance on the field.

Although players from several nationalities are nominated and win the award, they always all play for European clubs while those active in other leagues such as in South America and Mexico are generally overlooked. The best player is chosen by players and managers based on favoritism rather than merit which often creates unworthy winners. Thus the award has lost its recognition and become the object of amusement and ridicule.

The Ballon d’Or was established by a magazine called France Football in 1956 to recognize the history-makers of the game. But that is not what it has turned out to be.

LA LIGA

Between January 1 and December 31, 2014 in this competition Lionel Messi scored 35 goals in 36 matches (11 with the right foot, 23 with the left and the other with the head) while Cristiano Ronaldo scored 38 but with less versatility as only 4 were with his head and unfavorable left foot.

In addition Messi created 97 chances, 24 more than any other player and completed 164 dribbles, 63 more than the nearest rival Iker Muniain of Atletico Bilbao (MAILOnline – Why Lionel Messi should win Ballon d’Or after a record-breaking year with Barcelona; by Kieran Gill, January 12, 2015).

EUROPE

Messi conquered the continent on November 25 when he became the all-time top goal scorer in the Champions League in Nicosia, Cyprus. It was his 23rd European city, his 16th European country and recorded the 24th different stadium in which he had scored (MAILOnline etc.)

WORLD CUP 2014

At soccer’s most important competition Messi led Argentina to the final, was voted Man of the Match in 4 games (the most of any player in the competition) and won the Golden Boot as the best player of the tournament.

He had the most impact on the competition. His goals were all match-winning goals which propelled Argentina to the final. He was the third joint highest goal scorer with 4 goals and 1 assist, created the most chances, had the most successful dribbling runs, made the most deliveries into the box and produced the most through balls of any player.

In contrast, Ronaldo was a non-factor and only scored a late goal against minnow Ghana and had an assist against the USA.

HISTORY MAKER

Messi’s performance in 2014 was what the Ballon d’Or is all about, namely, history-making performances. On March 16, he became Barcelona’s all-time top goal scorer (371). One week later he became the El Clasico (matches between Real Madrid and Barcelona) top goal scorer (21) with a hat- trick.

He scored his 400th career goal on September 27 against Granada and surpassed a 59-year-old record to become La Liga’s all-time top goal scorer (253) on November 22. Three days later he overtook Raul by scoring a hat-trick to become the top goal scorer in the history of the Champions League (74).

Given all these achievements one would think that of the three nominees Messi was the most deserving to win the award. Instead he not only lost to Ronaldo but he and the other nominee Manuel Neuer got less votes combined (31.48 %) than Ronaldo (37.66%).

In 2013 Ronaldo won nothing and Franck Ribery won everything but nevertheless Ronaldo beat him.

How can all this be explained?

POLITICS BEHIND THE VOTING

FIFA’s criteria call for national managers, captains and media officials to vote for the most outstanding performer of the previous twelve months.

Not unexpectedly players vote for their team-mates and compatriots. In the 2014 contest for example, Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany) gave all three spots to Germans, Manuel Neuer, Phillip Lahm and Thomas Muller.

Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid) voted for his former team-mates Diego Costa and Thibaut Courtois.

Vincent Kompany (Belgium) voted for team-mates Thibaut Courtois and Eden Hazard as the world’s two best players with Arjen Robben third.

The best example of the politics in all of this is illustrated by Robert Lewandowski (Bayern Munich) who declared without giving a reason that he regretted voting for Ronaldo instead of his team-mate Neuer. This ‘change of heart’ can only be explained as coming from a player who wants to save face with team-mates in the dressing room rather than from a voter with any real conviction.

The same criticism applies to managers who only vote for national players. For example, Argentina’s manager Gerardo Martino gave all three places to his fellow countrymen namely, Lionel Messi, Angel di Maria and Javier Mascherano, Belgium coach Marc Wilmots voted for Belgian Thibaut Courtous for third place, Didier Deschamps (France) gave the final spot to French striker Benzema and Holland’s Guus Hiddink gave top honor to compatriot Arjen Robben.

Players will get a lot of votes if they are popular ‘with the boys’ and can play to the cameras to advertise commercial products. Those who defend the choice of Ronaldo as best player point to the fact that in the second half of 2014 he scored 32 goals. The problem is that 9 of those goals were penalties so his non-penalty goals were 23, the same amount as Messi who had no penalties. Ronaldo is nicknamed «Penaldo» because of his mastery of drawing and scoring penalties.

In a World Cup year such as 2014 your performance in that tournament is what defines you. On the world’s biggest stage Ronaldo was a nonfactor and his supporters excuse this by saying he was carrying an injury. If that is true that is unfortunate but injury is a misfortune, not a privilege and he can only be judged on actual performance and not on speculation as to what he might have achieved had he been fully fit.

The Player of the Year award has lost its authenticity. But it does not have to be so. It is not a personality or school prom contest. It is supposed to recognize performance on the field. Maybe the officials of FIFA should themselves become the judges, give more consideration to non-European clubs and use criteria like achievements and fair play to choose the winner. This would not be a perfect system but would be preferable to the present one which is deeply flawed and cannot be taken seriously.

Victor A. Dixon

January 18, 2015

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After losing the Player of the Year award (Ballon d’Or) to Lionel Messi for four consecutive years Cristiano Ronaldo won the accolade in 2013. This and the great start Ronaldo has made in the new season have livened up an old debate as to whether he is a better player than Messi.

The discussion has focused on a particular set of statistics, namely, goals. To the extent that the data can help us to hazard an educated guess about player performance, Messi is the better of the two at club and international levels.

However if goals are used as the criteria to compare players it is not sufficient to look only at the number of goals scored. You also have to break down the conversion rate into such things as whether the shots are from inside or outside the area, the goal expectation i.e. whether an average player would score given the chance presented and the quality of the opponents.

CLUB LEVEL

The findings of a recent mathematical study were published in the Washington Post which showed that in 2009 to 2013 Messi’s average chance quality (i.e. quality of chances created) was higher than Ronaldo’s. Ronaldo had more shots but were mostly from long distance and he only scored 30 goals from 587 such shots whereas Messi scored 28 goals from his 287 long distance shots. Messi was more efficient because a higher percentage of his shots were converted i.e. 9.75 % to 5.11%.

The study found that Messi is better at getting into goal-scoring positions since he had 29 danger zone shots (from inside the area) to Ronaldo’s 20.

Messi is also a better finisher. In the period 2009/10 through 2013/14 Messi averaged 40% more goals than expected goals compared to Ronaldo’s 20% (see WASHINGTON POST – Despite great season, Cristiano Ronaldo is not better than Lionel Messi; by Michael Caley, November 7, 2014).

Last season Ronaldo broke the norm and outscored Messi. This propelled him to win the Ballon d’Or in 2013. But this has to be looked at in light of the fact that Messi missed a part of the year through injury and when he resumed playing he almost caught up with Ronaldo’s tally of 31 by scoring 28 by the end of the 2013/14 season.

Also, in the current season Ronaldo has made a great start by scoring 12 non-penalty goals to Messi’s 7. A plausible explanation for this is not that Ronaldo is now a better player but it is attributed to the changing roles of both players at their respective clubs.

With the addition of Neymar and Luis Suarez on the flanks of Barcelona’s 4-3-3 formation Messi now plays a deep-lying playmaking role which has led to his goals trending down while his assists are going up. His goals per game fell from little under 1.50 in the season 2012/13 to 0.86 in 2014/15 while his assists in 2013/14 was little under 0.50 and rose to 0.86 in the current season.

At Real Madrid the trend was the opposite. With the recent addition of Gareth Bale and James Rodriques in the midfield Ronaldo is now more of a striker and less focused on distribution. He now takes more shots from inside the penalty area and in the current season his 12 non-penalty goals except for 2 were from inside the box. His goals per game rose from 1.00 in 2013/14 to 2.20 in 2014/15 while his assists in the same period fell from 0.25 to 0.17 (ESPN FC GLOBAL- Realigning Stars: Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo face changing roles; by Michael Cox, October 23, 2014).

INTERNATIONAL LEVEL

Messi has a better strike rate than Ronaldo. The all time stats for all competitions show that Messi has 44 goals from 95 caps (0.46 goals per game) whereas Ronaldo has 51 from 116 caps (0.43 goals per game) (INTERNATIONAL STATS – November 8, 2014).

World Cup – Messi also surpasses Ronaldo with 5 goals from 15 caps (0.33 goals per game) to Ronaldo’s 3 goals from 13 caps (0.23 goals per game) (INTERNATIONAL STATS etc.).

Messi’s record is very impressive. In 2014 he led Argentina to the final, was voted Man of the Match in 4 games (the most of any player in the competition) and won the Golden Boot as the best player of the tournament.

Contrary to what some critics say he was the most deserving of the latter award. He had the most impact on the competition as Argentina would not have progressed to the final without him. He was the joint highest goal scorer with 4 goals and assists, created the most chances, had the most successful dribbling runs, made the most deliveries into the box and produced the most through balls of any player.

In contrast, Ronaldo has a sorry record. He has only scored thrice and against weak opposition, namely, a penalty against Iran (2006), the sixth goal in a 7-0 win against North Korea in 2010 and a late goal against Ghana in 2014. In the last tournament his only real contribution was an assist against the USA.

QUALITY OF OPPONENTS

Messi has more career goals for club and country. He has a total of 420 goals in 564 games (or 0.74 goals per game) while Ronaldo has 449 goals in 702 games (or 0.63 goals per game).

The important difference is that the Argentine has more game changing goals and against stronger opposition. His goals are directly associated with winning titles in La Liga, Champions League victories, Olympic gold medal matches and Youth and Club World Cups.

For example, as at March 24, 2014 for Barcelona he has scored against the best teams namely, 21 against Real Madrid (Barcelona’s fiercest rival), 20 against league champion Atletico Madrid and 18 against Sevilla (most successful club in Andalusia). In the Champions League he has 12 against German teams, 8 against English teams and 5 against Italian teams. And in the World Cup 2014 he scored 4 match winning goals.

Ronaldo on the other hand has failed to score in decisive matches and succeeded in scoring multiple goals against weak teams not only with his club but with his country. For example, in the English Premier League for Manchester United he only scored 2 goals in 9 games against Liverpool (United’s fiercest rival) and scored 1 goal in 15 games against stalwart Chelsea.

In the Champions League for United he failed to net in his first 26 games and although he scored in the final in 2014 for Real Madrid he had little impact in the other final in which he played in 2009 in a 2-0 loss to Barcelona.

In Spain in his first 9 games against Barcelona (Real Madrid’s main rival) he scored just 3 goals.

In the World Cup he has a sorry record which was discussed above and in the European Championship he has 6 goals against minnows Greece, the Czech Republic and a weak Holland team and underperforms against strong teams like Germany and Spain.

All in all the stats show that Messi is the better player because he is better at getting into goal scoring positions, is a better finisher and is a more efficient goal scorer. Messi has an age advantage because he is 27 and Ronaldo is 29 and though it is likely that both will still be playing for a few more years the Argentine will have more time than Ronaldo to extend his record of achievements. In the meantime the debate goes on.

Victor A. Dixon

November 20, 2014

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