Yesterday, I was honored to be a keynote speaker at the Washington State Football Coaches Association convention in Bellevue. I had the opportunity to talk with many coaches and their concern for liability issues is a major issue for them.
As a former basketball coach, I was stunned with the amount of extra work football coaches must do when it comes to equipment. I sat in on a couple of sessions specifically to learn more about the maintenance of helmets, and how important constant fitting is throughout the year. If you are a football coach, did you know that after your initial fitting for a kid at the start of the season, you need to re-fit within 3 days? The reason is actually very simple. As the kid gets into shape, he will lose some fat from his forehead and the chance that the fitting is no longer good is is very high. Not only that, he may go get a haircut because it's so hot and that changes fitting, too.
The bottom line was that helmet fitting must be an ongoing function for a coach throughout the season.
Dan
P.S. That's a good reason to go to conferences like this one. You never quit learning unless you don't make important educational opportunities like this a priority. Kudos to the association for an excellent event.
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