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Riddell President Dan Arment has an important goal as he meets with engineers and designers to address the latest plastics, sensors and other materials used to create the next-generation football helmet: to help stop concussions. Concussions in football have become a hot-button issue, and Riddell, based in Rosemont, is creating and testing helmets meant to better protect football players.
Recently, Riddell recognized and rewarded four Pop Warner teams for building a smarter, safer game as part of its inaugural "Smarter Football program."
Oyster Bay is the first school district on Long Island to equip its high school football players with electronic sensors designed to help prevent serious head injuries. The sensors, according to Newsday, send a signal to a handheld device when a player is hit above a certain threshold of force.
The York Comprehensive High School football team is testing out several hi-tech sensors in football helmets that can help lead to detecting a concussion. Riddell's InSite Impact Response System places sensors inside a player's helmet and ranks the level of impact on hits to the helmet. That ranking is relayed to a handheld device that is in the hands of an athletic trainer -- who can determine whether or not the player needs to undergo concussion testing.
“We received approximately $7,000 to enhance our current program, including the purchase of Riddell InSite sensors to be fit in the Kewanee High School football program helmets,” Kocis said. The grant allowed for the purchase of 12 sensors — 11 going to varsity players and one for a JV player. The sensors were put in the helmets of six players in the program with a concussion history, and the remainder went to players at high impact positions, such as running back or linebacker. "The big thing with our grant is the sensors,” Kocis said. “I don't know if the kids realize the protection they provide.”
The Sidney High School football program became the first football program in Ohio to take a hi-tech approach to monitoring their players. Thanks to the support of Wilson Memorial Sports Medicine (WMSM) and the Sidney Athletic Boosters, the Yellow Jackets announced it has adopted Riddell’s InSite Impact Response System – the latest in head impact monitoring technology from the world’s leading helmet manufacturer – for the upcoming 2015 season.
Coach Keith Lopati at West High School in Salt Lake City is using a handful of new helmets that monitor when a player takes a hit that warrants a concussion test. The helmets are currently worn by players who have either had concussions in the past, or play a position that comes with more severe contact. The helmets, designed by Riddell, are equipped with a sensor built into the padding.
Districts like Blue Valley and Shawnee Mission have already changed the way they do things for football and the two huge districts now partner with The University of Kansas Hospital both on and off the field.
In June, Oyster Bay purchased 85 five-star helmets from Riddell that feature a bendable forehead that is intended to absorb more impact. “To me this gives us and our trainer a chance to look at all 11 players [on the field] at a given time — or all 80 or so athletes that are in our program at a given time — because they’re all going to be hooked into the system and hooked right up to the trainer,” athletic director Kevin Trentowski said. “It’s a set of eyes that goes on every athlete.”
This year, the school district purchased helmet sensors for the varsity team. The sensors measure helmet impacts. School trainers are equipped with monitors and are alerted of any possible high-impact hits.
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