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This is the first season the Flagler Palm Coast High School football team has been using the Riddell InSite helmets with built in technology that tracks each player electronically, monitoring their hits to the head.
When Flagler County’s two high school football teams met on the gridiron Friday night, they renewed their cross-county rivalry with greater safety than in years past. That’s because new helmet-based impact technology is improving prevention and treatment of high school football concussions. The Riddell InSite Impact Response System alerts coaches and athletic trainers on the sidelines when a player takes a significant hit.
Football-related concussions have been a focus in the national media and other circles in recent years, partly due to how former NFL players have been impacted later in life. It’s a big concern in football at the high school level as well. Carbondale and Harrisburg are two local schools which now have Riddell’s InSite helmets, which have impact response technology in them. The new helmets should be a valuable tool keeping players safer when it comes to head injuries.
Concussions will always be a part of football, but the Notre Dame high school football team of West Haven is hoping an addition to their helmets can make the game safer. This season the Green Knights will have sensors from Riddell called InSite. Coach Tom Marcucci says they’re installed in 12 helmets for players who play on the offensive line, defensive line or other high impact positions, “it’s another safeguard, that’s how I look at it,” says Marcucci. “Our helmets are all the same, I think the misconception is that the helmet is different. The guys without the sensor, the helmet is the same. So we still rely on observation and the experience of the coaches. It’s just another tool to use to keep the game safer.”
The Huntington North football program is on the cutting edge of new technology designed to make football safer. This year the Vikings spent $5,400 installing Riddell’s InSite Impact Response System into 36 of their helmets. Huntington North is the first high school in Northeast Indiana to use this technology.
A few area CIAC schools have purchased Riddell’s InSite Impact Response System to provide another way to quickly identify potential concussions. The company Riddell, which designs and develops football helmets and other protective sports equipment, calls itself “a recognized leader in helmet technology and innovation.” This five-zone sensor pad installed into the liner of the helmet measures the severity of impact to the helmet.
Blair Academy in New Jersey has long had a policy of no tackling in practice. With a small roster that’s hovered around 35 players on the varsity and junior varsity combined, the school couldn’t afford to lose players to injury. To further protect the players Blair also has invested in Riddell InSite helmets with sensors to help record the frequency and severity of hits. The helmets don’t prevent concussions, but they do help the coaches know if a player has been hit hard or if a player needs to use better technique when delivering hits.
Nine Springfield High School football players will be equipped with the InSite Impact Response System, designed by Riddell for use in the Riddell’s Speed helmets. So far, Head Coach Roy Gully said none of the nine helmet sensors have detected a large hit during the preseason practices.
Some big changes are coming to high school football this season. The football players on more than a dozen local teams will be wearing a new piece of technology. One local team made the switch last season as a result of a NewsChannel 5 On Your Side investigates report on helmet safety. Freeburg Head Coach Ronnie Stuart says he’s looking forward to using the Riddell InSite helmet sensors for the first time this season. Columbia High School is going into its second season with the sensors. They were the first school to start using them. Now they’re one of 15 area high schools that have joined the growing trend of safety on the football field. All the players at Columbia High School have the sensors in their helmets.
The San Francisco 49ers recently teamed up with USA Football, the sport’s national governing body and a member of the U.S. Olympic Committee, to hand out grants to several youth football teams in the San Francisco area. The grants, which were for uniforms and safety equipment, were granted to select youth and scholastic football programs based on need and merit. These grants from USA Football, which are given to increase the benefits and fun of playing football for all ages, are provided with help from its equipment partner, Riddell, and its uniform provider, Siege Sports, as well as support from the NFL Foundation.
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