Illinois College becomes one of the first NCAA football programs to offer its entire team the Unequal Gyro, a helmet liner shown to reduce the incidences of concussions.
Illinois College Athletic Director Mike Snyder and Head Football Coach Garrett Campbell are proud to unveil a new partnership with Unequal® Technologies which will offer the entire IC Blueboy football team use of the Unequal Gyro, a supplemental helmet liner fortified with Kevlar® and Accelleron® designed to reduce the risk of concussions. Handouts of the gear took place today at the Bruner Fitness and Recreation Center with Dan Tovrog of Echelon Sports Armor on hand to oversee installations and fitting.
Illinois College becomes one of the first NCAA programs in the country to provide every one of its players with the option of the Unequal Gyro helmet liner. After Friday’s handouts, 96 IC players expected to use the Gyro in the team’s next game, with another 10 yet to be fitted. The only other NCAA team to have its entire team outfitted is FBS squad Southern Methodist University (SMU). SMU began experimenting with Unequal padding back in 2011, but just this season outfitted its entire team with the Unequal Gyro.
Unequal® Technologies are being used by far more than football players. Soccer, hockey and various other high-impact sports are using Unequal products to protect their athletes. This technology helps to disperse the energy of an impact away from the student-athlete, significantly reducing the likelihood of concussions. With the effect of concussions on student-athletes becoming more and more understood by everyone in the athletic community, student-athlete safety is at the top of the list of concerns.
“As an athletics administrator, the topic of student-athlete safety is always on my mind,” said Snyder. “We are at a time when discussion on player safety in regards to head trauma is at an all-time high. Working with Coach Campbell, Dr. Jim Green, Terry Geirnaeirt and Dr. Jeremy Turner, we came to the conclusion that moving forward with providing the Unequal Technologies Gyro was the best move for the football team’s safety. This is just the first step in Illinois College Athletics’ plan to increase education and student athlete safety.”
All Unequal products use a patented battle-grade composite fortified with Kevlar® and Accelleron® to absorb and disperse impact forces beyond the performance of any sports protection of similar weight or thickness. The padding has been rigorously tested and proven to reduce acceleration, or G’s. National studies and leading doctors have concluded that reducing G’s predicts a reduction in the risk of injury.
“What we have come to learn about concussions in recent years represents a significant cultural issue and I think every coach in America – in football and in every other sport – is keenly aware of it,” said Campbell. “This is something we all talk about as coaches. This is bigger than football. It’s great to have an administration that is being proactive and leading the charge on student-athlete safety and long-term wellness.”
More information on Unequal® Technologies can be found here. Echelon Sports armor serves as the Midwestern distributor of Unequal gear and can be foundhere.
Illinois College will wear the Unequal Gyro in competition for the first time on Sept. 27 in a road contest at St. Norbert College.
