A.J. Anselm felt the ringing in his ears as his head slammed into the ground. Anselm was knocked unconscious after being shoved out of bounds, ending his season early in Starpoint’s playoff game against Lockport.
Anselm didn’t return to the field due to a concussion, an injury that has impacted 300,000 high school students yearly, according to a March 2023 study by HealthNews.com. Not wanting to quit football, Anselm looked for ways to help protect himself.
Three years ago, Starpoint purchased Guardian Caps — a soft-shell padding that attaches and covers the outer layer of a helmet — but most players just wear them in practice. With new approval to wear them in games, Anselm decided to try the cap, considering it’s designed to absorb at least 10% of the force of a hit, according to NFL research.
Anselm is one of two Starpoint players to wear them in games, and last week, Newfane, Royalton-Harlandt/Barker and Wilson programs received donations from Thompson State Farm Agencies to purchase Guardian Caps.
“Down the road, when I have family and kids, even grandkids, I want to be able to spend time with them but just be more safer about it,” Anselm said. “… You’re seeing nowadays kids die on the field because (a) hit to the head. So the more cautious I can be about it, that’s what I’m trying to do.”
Created in 2011 by Erin and Lee Hanson, Guardian Caps have been part of football practices since 2015. The NFL mandated the use of Guardian Caps during training camp practices — save for those who use approved new helmet designs — and began allowing players to wear them in games this season, with six players having used them thus far.
Newfane received the donations on Sept. 9 and were already ahead of the trend as eight players had already purchased Guardian Caps — listed on the company’s website at a cost of $69.99 for the original model and $125 for the NFL model — for themselves going into this season. A head injury to junior defensive lineman Colin Doxey in the Panthers’ Section VI Class C quarterfinal against Portville motivated him to buy one of the caps.
With 30 Guardian Caps at its disposal, Newfane now has players wearing them during practice, with players having the option to wear in games. Remembering what happened to Doxey, Newfane players aren’t balking at the strange-looking additions to their helmets.
“I think that the boys just genuinely, and their parents, care about their health and well being, especially when it comes to head trauma,” Newfane head coach Chuck Nagel said. “And if there’s something that can add as a buffer to help reduce this, I think they’re all for it. … They recognize that, ‘Hey, if there’s something out there we can use because we do play so fast and aggressive and something that we can put on a practice and possibly wear in a game,’ they were all for it.”
Wilson, meanwhile, didn’t have the Guardian Caps available until leading up to its Week 2 contest at Alden Friday. But in practice last week, the Lakemen had 25 Caps to outfit all varsity and junior varsity offensive linemen, linebackers and fullbacks, with players having the choice to wear them in games
Wilson head coach Bill Atlas, like his counterparts, Nagel and Roy-Hart/Barker head coach C.J. Knight were grateful for the donations. But Atlas’ only concern is having the Guardian Cap used as an excuse not practice tackling fundamentals.
“What I don’t want them to do is now feel invincible, to now be using their head,” Wilson head coach Bill Atlas said. “That’s not the way we teach to hit in football at any time. So that was really my only concern. And then we know we have to make sure we instruct them on that.”
Playing football in high school will still produce a risk of injury but the numbers for participation across New York State have increased and decreased over the last decade, due to safety concerns. In an October 2023 study, the National Federation of State High School Associations reported 566 schools and 38,354 players participated in football in 2009 and decreased to 486 schools and 28,656 players last year.
Many of the Roy-Hart/Barker players are used to wearing Guardian Caps, as the youth program began using them almost a decade ago. Knight also believes having the Caps could grow the sport in Section VI moving forward if more programs adapt this gear.
“A lot of parents hold their kids out of football because they’re afraid of (an) injury to the head, specifically, just like that,” Roy-Hart/Barker C.J. Knight said. “… Those kids that might be on the fence of playing or that the parents won’t let them, maybe this gives them the jump through that they need to where they’re going to be able to participate and sign up for years to come.”