NFL Flag San Diego, California’s largest year-round youth flag football league, has announced it is changing the protective headgear required for all of the youth flag football leagues at our five sites throughout the greater San Diego area to GameBreaker soft shell safety helmets.  This is part of a change that we previously initiated with great results and feedback at our sister organization Hard Count Athletics (HCA).  Players, coaches and athletes who participated in the nationwide youth flag football tournaments and skills camps offered by HCA told us how much they appreciated the switch.  Parents in particular have been very appreciative at the initiative taken by our leadership in protecting their children as reflected in this move.  Everything we do at both NFL Flag San Diego and HCA depends on the safety of our players, who are the future of not only our sport and leagues but of our communities and our country.  Our leagues would not exist without our players, so we owe it to them to take every safety precaution we can to protect them while they are engaging in a sport they love.  The change to GameBreaker helmets will be effective for our upcoming fall 2019 leagues, and we believe that the reaction to this switch will be similarly positive to what we have experienced at HCA.

Why Change to GameBreaker Helmets?

At NFL Flag San Diego, our focus, since we began our youth flag football leagues with a single site in 2013, has been to promote safety above all else for our youth flag football players.  Although we want our players to learn the importance of hard work and team work as well as to develop their individual skills by competing in our youth flag football leagues, the safety of our players always has been and will always be the baseline goal and our primary motivation in everything that we do at NFL Flag San Diego.  Given our involvement in youth flag football through both HCA and NFL Flag San Diego, we often are made aware of the newest and best safety equipment available on the market for our young athletes.  We became aware of GameBreaker helmets through the positive experiences we heard from coaches and parents whose young athletes were competing in some of our HCA tournaments who were using the helmets in their own regular leagues back home.  Intrigued, we performed research on the safety features and record of GameBreaker helmets.  We were understandably impressed by the company and its track record of success, its approach to player safety and the actual capabilities of GameBreakerhelmets.

More about GameBreaker and Their Youth Flag Football Helmets

GameBreaker is headquartered in California and its entire business is to create safety equipment for flag football, lacrosse, wrestling and other sports for athletes at the youth, high school, college and professional level.  Their headgear is molded out of high-quality impact foams, offering maximum protection upon impact.  GameBreaker helmets are not only used in youth flag football, but also in high school, college and professional football by teams and leagues throughout the country, so the company is well aware of what’s needed to protect athletes at each level of the sport.  Their youth flag football soft shell helmets in particular have earned a five-star rating from Virginia Tech’s Helmet Lab, which has been evaluating the safety of football helmets since 2011.  The GameBreaker helmets also offer no metal or hard plastic components such as straps or buttons, no sharp or hard edges that could cause harm to either the player wearing a helmet or other players, and a non-metallic chin strap.  We made this change in the required headgear for our players because we think that in the long run, this will ensure that our young athletes are as safe as they possibly can be.

The Mechanics of the Switch to GameBreaker Helmets

Because many of our youth athletes already own soft-shelled youth flag football helmets, NFL Flag San Diego is working with the players and parents in its leagues to make the transition to GameBreaker helmets as easy as possible for the athletes in all our leagues.  Therefore, we offer three different options for players and their families to choose from in making the transition.  The three options are as follows:

1. Rent a GameBreaker Helmet for $20 from NFL Flag San Diego
2. Trade in your RockSolid helmet (On select days that will be announced) and purchase a GameBreaker Helmet for only $25 and receive a Shock Dr. Mouthguard at no additional cost
3. Purchase a Black GameBreaker Helmet for $59.99 and receive a Shock Dr. Mouthguard at no additional cost (this offer is only good for the Fall 2019 Season)
    

We are hopeful this will ensure the transition is as smooth and seamless as possible while we do our best to keep your sons and daughters as safe as possible.

NFL Flag San Diego, Its Commitment to Player Safety and Its Youth Flag Football Leagues

If you are in the San Diego area and your son or daughter is interested in participating in one of the quickest growing youth sports out there in one of California’s top flag football leagues, then consider NFL Flag San Diego.  Offering both competitive and recreational divisions in a variety of different age group divisions, our league guarantees every player a significant amount of playing time and gives players the chance to make friends, be a part of a small, tight-knit team and meet current and former National Football League players.  While requiring a minimum time commitment with practices only once per week and games once per week as well, NFL Flag San Diego offers year-round opportunities for children from kindergarten through tenth grade to participate in flag football.  Further, as reflected in the switch to GameBreaker helmets, our leagues are committed to our players’ safety more than anything else.  If you have any questions or your child is interested in participating in today’s hottest growing youth sport, contact NFL Flag San Diego at info@nflflagsd.com for more information today.