ABC 6
July 23, 2024
ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WATE) — The high school football season is one month away and one East Tennessee school is investing in it’s players safety.
Concussions are a growing issue in youth sports. At Anderson County High School, the football team is making sure their players are safe at all times on the field. Technology like what is in the new Riddell Axiom Helmets will better help the football team in tracking hits to the head.
Growing awareness and new tech is giving football coaches the ability to track hits to the head as they happen on the field with real-time data.
“Before we wouldn’t be able to tell you. We could only base it off of the sound of it and the look of it. Now we can see that we have actual data that shows this player got hit in the top of the head in the game on Friday night,” assistant coach Ryan Moog said. “Maybe we should cut down their reps on Monday and Tuesday that way they can get reacclimated to having contact so that way we aren’t just bashing them on Monday and Tuesday.”
Head coach Davey Gillum said tracking player safety is a priority.
“The more data that comes out on head injuries, the long-term effects that concussions and things can have on kids. You can’t ever be careful enough,” Gillum said. “You can’t ever be careful enough. We’ve all had kids play or played ourselves so nobody wants to take a chance on safety.”
One player said that knowing the coaches care that much about the players is huge going into the season.
“It was super exciting. It shows me that the coaches care about us and care about our safety,” Senior running back and linebacker Cody Miller said.
“It let’s them know all the data and everything so it’s pretty cool and it’s comfortable.”
The Mavericks have 15 of the Axiom helmets with plans on purchasing more in the future.
Athletic Director Gary Terry said last season they had a quarterback who seemingly dodged a hit but got up woozy which led coaches to take him off the field for some time. He added with the new helmets they would know the severity of the hit immediately.