The 2019 football season is underway for Kansas City’s Winnetonka High School. As one of the four schools chosen to receive five Riddell SpeedFlex helmets with InSite technology as a result of the the partnership between the McCarthy Auto Group, Riddell, the Kansas City Football Coaches Association and PrepsKC, Winnetonka High School has emphasized safer and smarter football this season.
Riddell’s InSite technology is football’s leading head impact monitoring system. By collecting on-field data, InSite alerts sideline coaching staff of atypical head impacts. This athlete monitoring helps to provide information on playing style and behavior, which can elevate performance and reduce unnecessary head impact exposure.
For Winnetonka’s Head Coach Benny Palmer, the gift has been invaluable: “The game of football is safer than it’s ever been. The improvements made to the design of the football helmet is a big reason why. As the conversation around player safety has changed, so has the technology involved. The helmets that our football players have are top of the line. We have made a point to ensure that all of our athletes are equipped with the best helmets possible,” said Coach Palmer. “Now, with the InSite system, we can provide an added safety measure for our players on the field either in practice or games.”
InSite adds benefits to the program in a number of ways, according to Coach Palmer. “The players are going to benefit through the real-time notifications that will alert us when a high impact collision occurs, but also just in the structure of which we operate our practices. We are constantly working to find ways to be smarter about contact in practice. The season is long, and we want to everything we can to help our players. This system will allow us to look at real data regarding the rate of contact that we are taking, allowing us to design a practice schedule that is conscious of the contact.”
Coach says this program is helping evolve player protection, helping the game get smarter and more intelligent. Coaches, staff, partners and players alike are all taking steps in the sport’s development. At Winnetonka High School the emphasis on player safety has changed the way they play the game and will continue to do so for years to come.
