Local children talke part in a soccer clinic on the South Lawn of the White House. (Photo credit MANDEL NGAN/AFP/Getty Images)

BALTIMORE — U.S. Soccer has banned heading for kids 10-year-old and younger, and is putting limits on the practice of heading for kids under the age of 13.

Dr. Kevin Crutchfield, the Lifebridge Health Director of Comprehensive Sports Concussion Program, has treated both Ravens and Orioles players.

“I’ve always felt that really young kids should not be heading soccer balls,” Dr. Crutchfield says.

He says just putting heading in the mix creates dangerous scenarios, like kids hitting their heads on poles.

“The more common thing is when two players head each others head before the ball gets there,” Dr. Crutchfield says. “So that’s head-on-head contact, and that is usually the most catastrophic.”

Beyond that, he says young children don’t have the neck muscles for heading and often don’t do it properly.

Nine-year-old Ewan Lodge says he doesn’t think he’ll miss the heading drills — what he loves about the sport is the footwork.

Besides, he says other sports don’t often get to use both hands and feet with balls.

“In basketball you can’t run up to people to start kicking the ball around,” Lodge says.

Dr. Crutchfield is hoping USA Football will follow the lead, and ban full contact for younger players.

WNEW’s Jenny Glick contributed to this report. Follow her and WNEW on Twitter.