Added security

Mountain Brook High School head coach Chris Yeager has an extra layer of security over his team when the Spartans hit the field on Friday nights.

Each player is wearing a Riddell InSite smart helmet, and each is equipped with five sensors that measure the impact of a hit and documents the location of the hit.

“The force that’s registered is sent to these monitors, and every helmet is synced to this monitor,” said Jake Jordan, Mountain Brook’s head athletic trainer. Jordan has a monitor about the size of a cellphone that vibrates in a trainer’s pocket if the force on a specific helmet is deemed too high.

The vibration brings up the helmet number on the screen, and the trainer can identify which player is wearing the helmet.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean we automatically pull them out, but it makes us aware that, according to the data, he received enough force that could have caused a head injury,” Jordan said. “We follow them off the field when the offense or defense comes off. We do our full evaluation. If the sensor goes off and they look lethargic or wobbly, we go get them. It’s not an automatic ‘go get them,’ but it almost gives us an objective number to the most subjective thing we have to deal with.”

Prior to Mountain Brook’s Aug. 30 win over Center Point, Jordan said at the season-opening win at Northridge, five players had to be checked as the monitor went off signaling high force. But none of the players had to come out of the game.

Mountain Brook was one of 18 schools to receive a grant from former NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and Riddell, who teamed up together to fund and create the helmets. The grant covered the cost of 100 helmets, Yeager said, but sponsorships and fundraising helped the team obtain a few extras.

These helmets are worn in games only, Yeager said, but he’s hoping that, next year, there will be enough helmets for every player in grades seven through 12 and they can be used in practice as well.

This technology gives both the coaches and the players — who are in the trenches — more peace of mind.

“It’s a little more comforting because I want to play with my kids when I’m older,” Spartans center Hayden McDonald said. “It’s good technology.”

There are benefits beyond physical safety, too. Yeager said one player’s helmet had 13 red sensors go off on the top of the helmet at one point. The force wasn’t high enough to signal possible head injury, but it did let him know that his player was not using proper technique to make a tackle.

“That can’t happen,” Yeager said. “You’ll break your neck doing that going in with faulty technique. Right here, tonight, knowing this can save a serious injury.”

Another benefit, Yeager said, was that if a helmet gives out a red sensor reading — as opposed to other green and yellow sensors — every time, it could mean the helmet is faulty.

These helmets also can help determine if a player is not suffering the effects of a concussion even if he has a headache.

“So many symptoms are like other things,” Yeager said. “I talked to a coach at St. Thomas Aquinas [in South Florida]. He had a player come in Sunday with a headache and treated him like he was in concussion protocol. The trainer came in and said that there was no data in that helmet where he took a hit. They told the mom that. Mom said he has allergies. They gave him allergy medicine and it cleared it right up.

“It gives the medical people information of what’s going on inside the helmet,” he said.

This is just a start for what Yeager hopes can improve his program’s safety and enjoyment level.

“It’s an expensive way to try and protect these guys a little bit more,” Jordan said. “We’re trusting kids. At least it gives us a numbered system to go the docs and go to the coach and say per what we have, we think he has a head injury and needs to come out.”