‘Latest and greatest’: Lancaster County football players wearing helmets with exterior padding

LANCASTER, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — As high school and middle school football kicked off this year in Lancaster County, practice likely looked a little different.

“One of the things that brought this to the forefront is we had some schools that had some Guardian Caps available to them through PTO or booster money in the past couple of years, but that was not available to all students,” said Elizabeth Bryant, communications director with the Lancaster County School District.

The Lancaster County School District says it’s the first in the state to implement the padded headgear in practice for middle and high school football players.

“From a swag standpoint, hey, we’ve got the latest and the greatest,” Bryant told Queen City News.

Guardian Caps gained popularity when the NFL made the decision to mandate them during training camp two years ago for certain positions. League data shows the cap can absorb 11 to 12 percent of the force if only one player is wearing it. That increases to 20 percent if both players are wearing the device.

The NFL has seen a 52 percent decrease in concussions by players now wearing the cap and have expanded their policy to allow their use during regular-season games this year.

Lancaster County Schools are mandating them during practice and will also allow in-game use.

“One thing that we’re encouraging is that if any of our students are going through our concussion protocol, we’re encouraging their parents to consider letting them wear them during the game just as an added measure,” Bryant said.

The district spent just under $31,000 on about 600 caps. That amounts to roughly $51 a piece.

“I’m not sure of the exact number, but I know we’ve had concussion protocols in place that did not have the Guardian Caps involved in prior years,” Bryant said, “and I know that we do believe that even if it helps one student, then it’s worth it.”

The coaches and athletic directors at district schools picked out the Guardian Cap colors to accurately reflect each team’s colors.

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