SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- Football season is here, and of course, a big concern as always is concussions. Carlsbad-based Light Helmets has used their state-of-the-art technology to develop a football helmet that will reduce head injuries, and it's not just with tackle football, as they have also developed a helmet for flag football.
"Flag football is the fastest growing sport in America right now with over seven million kids playing," says Light Helmet CEO Nicholas Esayian.
While flag football is supposed to be a non-contact sport, head injuries do occur.
"We see kids playing flag football and they do make contact, whether that is their head hitting the ground, another kid's head, or a knee. So there is that opportunity for injury."
At Light Helmets, they took the liner from their hard shell helmet and created a flag football helmet.
"We based ours on the combat helmet," says Esayian. "We use the same liners that we use in our award-winning football helmets, and not only do we protect the head area, Virginia Tech gave us a 100 percent in regards to what part of the head we protect. We also received a perfect score per their index or scale for impacts."
Virginia Tech is the independent testing lab most entities look at when testing safety products, like football helmets. Light Helmets also conducts their own impact testing as well.
"We don't build helmets to pass a test, we build them for real-world play in athletes. Even if only some of these kids are wearing this helmet, because they are soft, it can protect another athlete that is not wearing a helmet or piece of headgear. When you have head to head contact it protects that athlete as well."
Esayian says the new helmets can also be worn to reduce the injury risk in women's soccer, which is the number one concussed sport in the United States.
