ROCKINGHAM — Richmond Senior High head football coach Bryan Till has been no stranger in his involvement with the community in the two and a half years since he joined the Raider program. Now he’s asking Raider Nation to continue and up its support in helping the Raiders win a state-wide contest.
Announced Sunday, the Raiders are one of 211 programs across North Carolina that have registered for the “Wear it like a Pro” contest, a dual effort hosted by the Carolina Panthers and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina to promote player safety on the field while also awarding teams with state-of-the-art helmets.
The competition, which opened at midnight on Tuesday, Sept. 3, will be available to voters until Tuesday, Oct. 15. According to the Panthers’ website, the single school with the most votes from each of North Carolina’s four classifications (Richmond is 4A) will receive 24 Riddell SpeedFlex helmets.
Voting will be held online, and Raider fans can visit the Panthers’ website by clicking here and search “Richmond” in the search box. No email or personal information is required to vote, and fans can vote as many times as they’d like each day between now and when the competition concludes.
The only stipulations voters have to agree to is that they’re aged 13 or older and agree to the contest’s terms of service.
“This is a very unique opportunity,” Till explained to ROSports. “We had to register to be included, but that was fairly simple. Now we need the help of Raiders far and wide to win this contest.
“If we win, we’d receive 24 SpeedFlex helmets, which are worth approximately $9,600 that our athletic department could allocate to many other endeavors,” he added.
Other Sandhills Athletic Conference teams registered include Jack Britt, Lumberton, Pinecrest and Purnell Swett high schools.
With player safety and concussion prevention and monitoring serving as key elements that are growing under the watch of the sport’s microscope, the SpeedFlex helmet is one of the top helmets on the market available to high school players. It is also the same helmet that Panthers players wear on Sundays in the NFL.
Set at a retail price of $409.99 per helmet in its base model and weighing 4.4 pounds, the SpeedFlex helmet collected a five-star rating from Virginia Tech’s STAR evaluation system. According to the school’s website, 20 different models of varsity helmets have received the highest safety rating, with the SpeedFlex among them.
“Our impact tests evaluate a helmet’s ability to reduce linear and rotational acceleration of the head resulting from a range of head impacts a football player might see on the field,” VT’s website reads. “Helmets with more starts provide a reduction in concussion risk for these impacts.”
Four of the 20 helmets that received a five-start evaluation rating are Riddell brand. The SpeedFlex varsity style helmet to be given out in the contest uses a shell made of polycarbonate material, among other features, to help protect players.
ROSports will post the link to the Richmond Observer Facebook page, as well as to the ROSports Twitter page.
