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Which Helmets Are Best for Youth Football Players?

Virginia Tech

Researchers at Virginia Tech are working to make football safer for the game’s younger players.

With funding help from the National Institutes of Health, a research team has been analyzing which helmets on the market best protect kids from head trauma.

"It's the first time that we have data suggesting how youth helmets should be different from that of an adult. We've been measuring head impacts directly from kids playing football, and we took that information and translate it to the lab to make a youth-specific helmet testing protocol," says Steve Rowson -- director of Tech's "Helmet Lab."

Seven commercially-available helmets received top safety marks. Rowson says the lower-performing gear could achieve a better grade by implementing a simple fix.

"Specifically what we noticed is that the front pad in the lower-performing helmets was a little too stiff. Kids don't hit their heads as hard as varsity football players, but yet that pad is the same stiffness for a lot of helmets," says Rowson.

The full list of helmet rankings is available here.

RADIO IQ is a service of Virginia Tech.

Nick Gilmore is a meteorologist, news producer and reporter/anchor for RADIO IQ.