Guardian Helmet Cover | Protection that still needs to prove itself

Since 2022, all NFL offensive and defensive linemen, tight ends and linebackers must wear the Guardian, a concussion-limiting helmet cover, during practices. The following year, all players, all positions combined, had to use it in training in the CFL.

However, it is only since this year that Football Canada has allowed amateur teams to use it. Knowing the extent of the damage that a concussion can inflict on a teenager, why this late adoption?

“We still know little about the effectiveness of the Guardian, so we would have been in a bad position to recommend its wearing,” explains the general director of Football Québec, Steve Duchesneau.

The Guardian reduces concussions among its users by half, according to NFL data. In the CFL, it is reported that these injuries were reduced by 42%, when the piece of equipment was used during training camps in 2023.

The League is currently conducting research on its effectiveness with the University of Victoria.

The problem is that these data are “preliminary and have not yet been subject to external and independent verification,” recalls the professor of physical activity sciences at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières. Rivers Philippe Fait. Three independent studies published in 2023 show “mixed results”.

“The impacts to the head seem similar, with or without the use of the Guardian,” he summarizes. The real effectiveness of Guardian protectors remains to be demonstrated more conclusively. »

Prevention

As we still know little about the Guardian, Philippe Fait considers that it is “hasty to recommend its purchase to secondary schools”. Despite this, nine of them have taken the lead and offered their players to wear it during training.

Five schools even require it to be worn in training. Among them, the Armand-Corbeil school in Terrebonne. “From the moment we knew that the CFL and NFL were using it, we bought 250 protectors for our teams,” reveals the communications coordinator affiliated with the school, Éric Ladouceur.

Every day, Alouettes sports therapist Tristan Castonguay sees the team’s players wearing the Guardian in training. When players have injuries or discomfort, they turn to him.

In his eyes, the Guardian does not constitute a “complete” solution to the risks of concussion. “But any object that can help protect our young people must be considered,” he believes.

Reserves

Its implementation in secondary school must, however, be gradual, he believes, since it requires adaptation.

“When our players started wearing it last year, they had a lot of pain, neck tension. The more the season progressed, the more they got used to it,” he explains.

“The players don’t trip. They find it heavier on the head, that the Guardian slides. But in terms of health and safety, the data is there,” says the man who is completing his doctorate in health and exercise sciences alongside his mandate with the Alouettes.

The reluctance of professional players is also explained by a fear of ridicule. Or more precisely, that of looking like a big “bobblehead,” explains Castonguay.

The first player in the history of football to have worn the Guardian during a game, Thomas Bertrand-Hudon, also raised this fear from his teammates, during an interview with The Press. After this historic match on August 16, Bertrand-Hudon only wore the Guardian sporadically, during kick returns. In the NFL, there are only six players who have dared to wear it in a game situation.

Fortunately, the argument of aesthetics does not find its way to Football Québec. The organization still maintains certain reluctance. “Some players have a false sense of security wearing it. When you feel overprotected, you make more contact, just as you feel its impacts less,” comments Steve Duchesneau.

Knowing this, the imposition of the Guardian on young players is considered neither by Football Québec nor by the Ministry of Sports and Leisure, we confirm at The Press.