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SAN DIEGO — The return of soccer season brings with it considerations about concussions — and never only for NFL and faculty soccer gamers.
Gentle Helmets is utilizing state-of-the-art expertise to develop a helmet for youths who’re participating in flag soccer.
“Flag soccer is the quickest rising sport in America proper now with over 7 million children enjoying,” Gentle Helmets CEO Nicholas Esayian mentioned.
Whereas flag soccer is meant to be a non-contact sport, head accidents do happen.
“We see children enjoying flag soccer, they usually do make contact — whether or not that’s their head hitting the bottom, one other child’s head, or a knee,” Esayian mentioned. “So there’s that chance for damage.”
Gentle Helmets used the liner from their onerous shell helmet to create a helmet for flag soccer gamers.
“We based mostly ours on the ‘fight helmet,'” Esayian saod. “We use the identical liners that we use in our award-winning soccer helmets, and never solely can we defend the pinnacle space. Virginia Tech gave us a 100% with reference to what a part of the pinnacle we defend. We additionally obtained an ideal rating per their index or scale for impacts.”
Virginia Tech is the unbiased testing lab most entities have a look at when testing security merchandise, like soccer helmets. Gentle Helmets additionally conducts its personal impression testing.
“We do not construct helmets to move a take a look at; we construct them for real-world play in athletes,” Esayian mentioned. “Even when solely a few of these children are carrying this helmet as a result of they’re tender, it could defend one other athlete that’s not carrying a helmet or piece of headgear. When you have got head-to-head contact, it protects that athlete as effectively.”
Esayian says the brand new helmets may also be worn to cut back the damage threat in ladies’s soccer, the primary concussed sport in the USA.
This story was initially printed by Steve Smith on Scripps station KGTV in San Diego.
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