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As many families get ready to kick off a new school year, it also marks the return of football across America — whether it’s pro, college, high school, or youth — and 8News is learning the future of football may have flags. Flag football is now the fastest-growing team sport in the country. More kids ages 6 to 12 are playing flag football than tackle football. A study by the Sports & Fitness Industry Association found over the past three years flag football numbers have increased by 38% with more than 1.5 million kids nationwide in leagues across the country. Many see it as safer than the tackle version.

Last football season, King High School’s Head Football Coach, Eddie Hesseltine, was approached about a soft shell, cap-style helmet. He was intrigued, but not completely sold. Until one of his players, who had a history of concussions, hit his head on the field during a 7-on-7 tournament.
Hesseltine says he was worried that this player might have another concussion. Fortunately, that player was fine, but this gave Hesseltine the idea that even without full pads there needs to be more protection.

Even a non-contact sport by definition could be safer. That was the Texas State 7-on-7 Organization’s thinking when it approved a soft-shell helmet requirement last January for the state tournament. This year’s state 7-on-7 tournament is the first in a 22-year history in which headgear is required.
No one is tackling in 7-on-7, but incidental contact remains a possibility. The state 7-on-7 board believes these efforts help. The soft-shell helmets just can’t be any helmet, either.

Player safety has become a focus in football over the past few years. Many modifications have been made for the game in pads, but there is also the game without pads, 7on7.
“If you’ve been in this long enough at the 7on7 level, you’ve witnessed a head injury, and I have,” said Westlake head coach Todd Dodge.

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.