A Helmet Shortage Is Hitting High School Football Across the Country

At Walpole High School, a shipment of 25 new helmets arrived last Tuesday, three days before the season opener, Dowd, the athletic director, said. If 15 to 20 players did not own their own helmets, Dowd said, “we would have had some serious problems.”

Robert Moreno, the athletic director and high school coach for the London Independent School District in Corpus Christi, Texas, drove two hours to San Antonio in August to buy three pairs of shoulder pads for middle school players. And seven varsity players who still had their self-purchased helmets from middle school sold them to families of current middle school players for $100 apiece, Moreno said — far lower than the $350 they could have received online.

The helmets were “gobbled up,” Moreno said, adding that interest was so high, he drew names in a lottery.

At Collinwood High School in Cleveland, the disruption to preseason and the cancellation of two games had been deflating, said Jacob Brown, 17, the team’s senior quarterback. When the Railroaders finally opened the season, on Sept. 2, they lost, 60-0. “It takes the joy out of it,” Brown said. “A helmet shortage was never a thought.”

Wheeler, Collinwood’s coach, said he was glad several of his players had purchased their own helmets. With his roster expanding weekly, his stock of 30 helmets might be insufficient. Wright, the receiver, said his school-issued helmet hurt his forehead, so he bought his own.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/sports/football/football-helmet-shortage.html