California youth football leagues will now be required to allow young players to wear soft-shelled helmet covers if their parents request the additional safety equipment.
On Monday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation requiring leagues allow the use of the soft-shell add-ons as a measure to to help reduce the risk of concussions among young football players.
Assemblymember Avelino Valencia, D-Anaheim, author of Assembly Bill 708, said that the helmet add-ons, which are used at the collegiate level and the National Football League, have been shown to reduce head injuries from repetitive tackles and collisions during football practices and games.
“As a former player and coach, I understand firsthand the physical toll that repetitive head impacts can have, particularly on our youngest athletes,” Valencia said in a Monday statement. “Parents should have the ability to choose this technology for their children, regardless of where they play, especially during these critical years of cognitive development.”
In recent years, there has been growing concern from the medical community about youth sustaining head and neck injuries while playing tackle football. Studies have shown a strong relationship between the number of years individuals play football and the risk they could develop chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, a degenerative brain disease caused by repetitive impacts to the head.
No lawmakers voted against the bill. The legislation was opposed by Riddell, the leading producer of football helmets, which argued that the bill would promote safety equipment that is not supported by scientific research.
“There’s the opportunity to put soft shells on top of these helmets to keep our kids safe,” Newsom said in a video announcing the bill’s signing. “But not every community, every district, not every club, not every football team in the state of California will even allow that. Well that’s no longer the case.”
This story was originally published by EdSource.