The current coronavirus pandemic continues to create obstacles for those attempting to plan for any potential football season this year.
The latest stumbling block for organizers at the high school level is a lack of proper helmet inspection, as the company that inspect helmets — Riddell and Schutt — are currently closed.
“I don’t think they are going to open any time soon,” Eastwood High School football coach Julio Lopez told the El Paso Fox affiliate. “If they do, I would imagine all of their reconditioning focus will be toward the college teams. It’s a huge issue.”
If the helmets can’t be inspected and/or reconditioned in time for the start of the season, then there are two options. Delay the start of the season so all helmets can be inspected, or school districts may have to buy brand new helmets for every team.
“That will obviously cost a lot of money,” Lopez says. “It’ll be interesting to see what everybody’s take is on this because it impacts every player. At the end of the day, it’s a safety issue.”
Most of Eastwood’s helmets were inspected at the end of last season, but the problem the could be very real for schools that didn’t have their helmets checked last year.
