After finding itself among the finalists in 2021 (new window), the group made up of three Montreal companies received approval from the National Football LeagueNFL at the beginning of the summer and then teamed up with a helmet company California, Light Helmets.
Everything turned upside down from that moment on.
Going from a prototype to a truly commercial headset has been a challenge over the last couple of months. We built a factory, we developed different sizes of helmets for the players and we were able to deliver in time for the opening of the training camps, declared the president of Kollide, Éric Gaudreault.
The football helmet is made in Quebec from a shell molded in Beauce and with a very innovative protective cushion system 3D printed in the Little Italy district of Montreal.
Excerpt from the Découverte show broadcast in October 2021.
Now that the company has met the requirements of the National Football LeagueNFL, it will be able to continue developing its product, while also pursuing new markets.
It won’t be easy to sell a new headset to professional gamers, who have often been using the same models for years. But the association with Light Helmets, which already sells helmets to amateur teams, could prove profitable.
The player who uses a certain helmet in school often tends to stay with the same company throughout his career.
A lighter helmet
Kollide presented his helmet to the Carabins of the University of Montreal, who will be able to test some of them in their training sessions.
The Quebec football helmet team counts in particular on the lightness of its product, i.e. less than two kilos, to make it popular.
We want to have high performance with a helmet that is increasingly lighter. So, going the opposite way trend of the industry which is to have helmets that are heavy and bigger, necessarily, said Éric Gaudreault.
During the presentation to the Carabins players, the objective seemed to have been achieved. Strong offensive lineman Alexandre Levac seemed ready to make the transition to the Quebec helmet, after having used the same American model since high school.
When I put this helmet on, it’s very, very light. I don’t feel like I have anything on my head. It is really impressive. It really is coolsays the 1.91 m, 132 kg (6 ft 3 in/291 lb) blocker.
The technology and material used in the protective cushions will allow the interior of the helmet to be adapted to the head of each user.
Who knows? Perhaps Quebecers like Benjamin St-Juste, Matthew Bergeron and Sidy Sow, who play in the National Football LeagueNFL, will one day be protected by a helmet designed and produced at home.
2023-09-20 09:00:00
#Quebec #helmet #NFL
