Opting for Headgear? Here’s What You’re Wearing
The use of headgear in girls’ and women’s lacrosse has been a hotly debated safety issue for many years. Rules always allowed for use of “soft” headgear, and in recent years, players have utilized products designed for other sports and needs, from soccer bands to rugby helmets. With no established standard in place to regulate these products, the relevance of the protection they offered was unproven. Understanding the need to develop sport- specific headgear based on scientific testing, in 2012 US Lacrosse collaborated with ASTM to provide research dollars that would help address the issue. The ASTM women’s lacrosse headgear task group identified testing protocols and partners, including epidemiologists, physicians and biomechanists — gleaning data and measurements used to help shape the language in the headgear performance standard.
Ultimately, the goal was to limit peak head accelerations resulting from stick and ball impacts to less than 80g. In addition to reducing acceleration rates, US Lacrosse advocated that the headgear should be lightweight and streamlined, and would not compromise the integrity of the women’s game. In late 2014, the headgear performance standard (F3137) went to ballot, and the standard was approved on May 21, 2015, at ASTM’s biannual meeting in Anaheim, Calif. While the use of headgear remains optional in girls’ and women’s lacrosse, in 2016 both US Lacrosse and the NFHS amended its rules to state that any headgear used after January 1, 2017 must meet the ASTM performance standard.
In late 2016, the first two headgear products to meet the standard emerged in the marketplace, produced by Hummingbird Sports and Cascade Lacrosse — no small task considering ASTM’s stringent testing requirements, including a 45-mph stick swing simulation and a 60-mph ball impact. The outer shell must these maintain protective qualities while also deforming to keep non-opting players safe.
“This standard was critical in the development of protective equipment that meets specific mechanisms of injury and risks of the game while minimizing injury risk to other players,” said Ann Carpenetti, vice president of lacrosse operations at US Lacrosse. “It focuses on addressing and minimizing the impacts created from a stick and ball.” US Lacrosse maintains that protective equipment is just one element in producing a safe playing experience. Having certified coaches with sport-specific education, utilizing trained and certified game officials, and mandating the use of age-appropriate rules are all critical safety components as well. — P.O.
40 US LACROSSE MAGAZINE January 2017 continued from page 38
features the new research and development wing. It’s covered with drills, drawings and model-making materials, looking like a cross between a scientist’s lab and a child’s playroom. The crown jewels are two 3-D printers.
A team of designers have tablets and computer-assisted drawing programs, but pencil and paper is the quickest sketching method, said Jesse Newman, senior developer for headgear. They consult with scientists and doctors, including ophthalmologists on what facemask colors dilate players’ eyes. A large glass window on the first floor reveals Cascade’s in-house testing facility, which tests the compliance with safety standards. Two impact-testing rigs look like medieval guillotines, but head forms suspended in the air, waiting to be dropped onto a padded anvil below, stand in for the blades.
Each head is filled with a triaxial accelerometer and microchips to measure the force of impact. The helmets, sometimes heated or chilled beforehand, are dropped from heights of two, four and six feet in six different head positions. There’s even a modified, spring-loaded pitching machine that tests the impact of slashes. Cascade’s ball cannon that tests how the helmet and headgear withstand shots used to look like a potato gun. Now, it more closely resembles a high-powered rifle, firing into a cage with another mounted head. A high-speed camera records the impact of the ball with the helmet. Each head form’s face is even painted white to see if the inside of the helmet touches the face. The large drops test the effectiveness of Cascade’s Seven
Technology liner system, which is a series of small cylindrical tubes that compress and bulge out laterally on impact to absorb high-energy hits. It took about four or five years from inception to production and went through more than 100 variations of the design that’s now inside its top model of helmets. The two-foot drops test the Poron XRD, which is a soft material that makes direct contact with the head, providing comfort and absorbing low-energy impacts. Each men’s helmet has to withstand a 70-mph shot and a 60-inch drop. “We could make an incredibly stiff helmet and it will score
USlacrosse.org
©GREG WALL
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