A row of Guardian Caps lines the football field at Columbine High School. Jeffco Athletics has approved a season-long pilot study of the caps across its entire football program.
There’s something different about football practice this season in Jeffco Public Schools. Visit any Jeffco field, and you’ll see players wearing what looks like soft, light-colored armor surrounding their heads. What they’re wearing are specially-designed caps – Guardian Caps, invented by a local chemical technology company that was approached by a group of doctors looking for a way to give football players extra protection against a direct hit and repetitive hitting of the helmet during play.
“It’s a very simple design. It’s very lightweight and floats on top of the helmet. So if you get hit, the cap moves, your helmet doesn’t move, so your head doesn’t move,” explained Lee Hanson, president of Guardian Caps and The Hanson Group.
Columbine High School Football Coach Andy Lowry is a big fan of the caps.
“If you put a bunch of bubble wrap around an egg it’s going to slow the impact and the force of it. Anything we can do to try to help protect our kids is my goal,” said Lowry.
Lowry tested the caps with players about three years ago. His players had a positive reaction, which prompted Lowry to help convince Jeffco to authorize a pilot program equipping all the district’s high schools for their use at practices.
Jeffco Athletics took a hard look at the caps’ track record before saying yes. That track record includes their ongoing use by two dozen college teams, including Colorado Mesa University, Clemson, and Stanford.
“It’s been on the field for five years, and in that time we’ve gotten nothing but positive feedback from all types of programs. Every coach, every player, every athletic trainer is coming back and telling us it works,” said Hanson.
High schools across the country will be watching as, over the course of this season, Jeffco Athletics evaluates the caps and shares data about their protective properties.
“We’re going to be tracking any injuries, as we normally do with our trainers. We’re going to be looking at the number of concussions at practice versus concussions that might occur during a game,” said Jeffco Public Schools Athletic Director Jim Thyfault.
The caps will only be used in practice, because according to Colorado High School Activities Association (CHSAA), Jeffco schools cannot wear them during a game if the other team is not also wearing them. However, it is the repetitive hitting that goes on in practice that many believe could be a reason for concussions.
“Safety of our kids is our number one concern, and we feel like we may have come across something that might make them a little safer,” said Thyfault.
There isn’t anything on the market that prevents concussions. In fact, it is still unclear exactly what is causing the concussions that some players have experience. However, the hope is that the Guardian Caps will help reduce and limit the force and impact of hitting to help protect players a little bit more, and finding ways to keep kids safe while playing sports is the ultimate goal.
Watch the JPS-TV version of this story here.