THE GAMEBREAKER BLOG

A budding Westlake Village company is attempting to tackle a huge problem of America’s most popular sports face, head injuries. And an East Coast university that is an authority on the subject says GameBreaker is a game-changer in softshell headgear. As 7-on-7 football continues its rapid spike in popularity, the Texas association has taken a step to make the sport safer. In January, the Texas State 7on7 Organization passed a rule requiring players to wear soft-shell, cap-style helmets that have a four- or five-star rating by a Virginia Tech study. This rule will be implemented for the 2019 state tournament and the 2020 season. Texas 7on7 executive director Doug Stevens said setting a standard based on the Virginia Tech protocol was important because lesser helmets and headband-style protections can give a false sense of security.

The best way to prevent sports-related concussions is not to hit your head, but research released Tuesday shows which protective headgear works best to reduce the risk of head injuries for soccer players when collisions do happen.
“There’s a wide range of performance within the current [headgear] available to consumers,” Virginia Tech Helmet Lab Director Steve Rowson said. “When you do have a head impact, you want to have the very best head protection available.”
The headgear is meant to prevent the most common type of concussion in soccer — one that occurs when two players knock heads when both are trying to head the ball.

“They’re going to go for the ball, like dogs to meat,” Applewhite said. That competition, even at half-speed, might cause heads to collide and puts players at risk for concussions. Houston, along with in-state schools including Texas, Texas A&M, and TCU, have all purchased soft-shell headgear to protect players. Houston and Texas could be among the teams wearing the equipment this preseason. This year, the NCAA eliminated two-a-day practices but allowed teams to use a ball during a walkthrough.