Following positive results from a 2014 season-long pilot study testing Unequal supplemental head padding, Pop Warner Little Scholars Executive Director Jon Butler announced Pop Warner is planning to conduct a larger study with more Pop Warner teams and players using Unequal in the 2015-16 season, to be conducted by an independent research firm.
The organization said the testing led to more than 11,000 athletic exposures among 20 Pop Warner football teams in two states.
“Pop Warner is constantly exploring all avenues to make football better and safer for its players. In addition to advanced coaching education and some of the most progressive rule changes in the sport, we regularly work with equipment and technology companies to improve the player experience,” said Jon Butler, executive director of Pop Warner Little Scholars. “Over the course of the 2014 season, 546 players participated in a pilot project using the Gyro, Unequal's supplemental head padding for football helmets. The results of this initial testing period were encouraging. Concussions among participating teams appeared to have decreased significantly. We look forward to continued testing of Unequal's Gyro in a broader study monitored by a third party medical research organization.”
Rob Vito, CEO of Unequal said, “We are pleased by the decrease in concussions in this study and how Unequal improved the safety of Pop Warner's football players involved. But I am not surprised at the results, given other field data that also shows a significant decrease in the concussion rate of players using Unequal as compared to players not using Unequal. Of course nothing can prevent concussions. Our goal is to significantly reduce the risk of concussions,” said Vito.
Dr. Julian Bailes, Chairman of the Pop Warner Medical Advisory Board, sees a larger study as a logical next step. “We see the need to better understand the potential for Unequal to impact concussions and player safety. Unequal has many patents which involve military-grade materials which were originally designed to stop high speed projectiles, and we are interested to see how that technology may transfer to sports safety,” Dr. Bailes said.
Joe Theismann, a World Champion quarterback and member of the College Football Hall of Fame from Notre Dame, is on the advisory board of Unequal Technologies and has seen Unequal evolve over the past few years. Theismann presented the benefits of Unequal to Pop Warner's medical board before the initial study was conducted, stating, “What happens in Pop Warner will determine the future of football. I had multiple concussions in my playing days and know the importance of safety. Unequal's and Pop Warner's goal to make football safer for our youth will help allow kids to continue to enjoy the life lessons learned by playing the great game of football and bring greater peace of mind to parents.”
Pop Warner is currently working on aligning with a medical research organization and will begin the third party testing of the Unequal Gyro in the 2015-2016 season.
