Northland community raises $8,200 for new football safety equipment

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — KSHB 41 News reporter Lauren Schwentker covers stories in the Northland, including in Clay and Platte counties. Have a story idea? Send her an email.

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More than 100 Northland Catholic youth football players will start the season with new protective equipment after the community raised $8,200 to purchase Guardian Caps.

The padded helmet covers are designed to help reduce the forces associated with helmet-to-helmet contact.

Coach Jason Maki organized the fundraiser after seeing the cost of the equipment as a potential barrier for families moving from flag football to tackle football.

“A lot of parents can't afford the expense of it,” Maki said.

The fundraiser provided enough Guardian Caps for every player from fifth through eighth grade.

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Guardian Caps have drawn attention at higher levels of football, including the NFL.

According to Guardian Sports, a 2025 analysis by Biocore, an independent biomechanics lab that conducts the NFL’s annual helmet testing, found Guardian Cap NXT was associated with a 54% to 62% reduction in NFL practice concussions across the factors studied.

Guardian also notes the NFL’s findings involved Guardian Caps alongside other protective measures.

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But Dr. Michael Rippee, medical director of the KU Concussion Program, said parents should temper their expectations about what the equipment can do.

“There’s a lot of teams out there using these now, all the way from high school up to the professional level in the NFL,” Rippee said. “They’re mandated, but the data and research really doesn’t show that they reduce concussions.”

Rippee said research involving thousands of high school and college athletes has not consistently shown that Guardian Caps reduce concussion rates.

Instead, he said parents and coaches should focus on basics such as proper helmet fit, newer equipment and safe tackling techniques.

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“A really good fitting helmet is what you need,” Rippee said. “We can see a lot of injuries that occur when the helmets don't fit correctly.”

For Maki, the fundraiser was about making additional protective equipment available to families.

He said he’s grateful for the community members who contributed, including those with no direct connection to the football program.

“They’re just contributing because it seems to be the right thing to do,” Maki said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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