Our Purpose
By Guardian Athletics October 12, 2017
The fear of concussions and other head injuries is preventing athletes of all ages from playing a game they love — football. Our passion was ignited when we realized that the industry simply wasn’t innovating fast enough.
Football has been passed down through generations and has built tight communities of athletes, coaches, and fans all around the world. While helmets provide a level of protection for the skull, the brain can still move and can cause head injuries, particularly concussions. Innovation in safety gear is lacking. And there’s a lack of products that properly address the frequency, severity, and recovery times tied to head and neck injuries.
Protect. Perform. Recover. It’s our mission. It’s in our DNA; our founder learned over the 35+ years working with athletes, particularly football players, that it’s not one simple element that creates a safer game. And as an organization, we believe that this systematic approach to the safety of athletes is how we can play a role in reducing the risk of injuries, concussions, and other contributors to CTE, not to mention helping eliminate burners and stingers.
Using our experience, innovative design, comprehensive testing, and technology, our launch product — Kato Collar — focuses on the deceleration of the brain after the initial impact of a hit. The collar slows down the head, which keeps the brain from reaching those extreme points where injuries occur after an impact of any kind. Movement of the brain can lead to bruising, which leads to a concussion. Kato Collar’s unique design decelerates the head after impact by up to 30% and reduces the forces that are believed to cause concussions.
We designed Kato Collar to give players confidence in their safety and technique to help them move faster on the field and let them play the game they love. Proper tackling and blocking techniques are also fundamental to protection and confidence in the game.
We won’t stop innovating and learning more about how to let them play.