OVERLAND PARK, KS (August 12, 2025) ― The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) held its Summer Standards Meeting in Kansas City on July 25. The Standards Committee shared updates on round robin testing for NOCSAE’s new Generation III Headforms, updated the effective date for the youth football helmet standard and addressed considerations related to manufacturer authorized accessories. This was the first meeting under the leadership of John Parsons, PhD, who was appointed as NOCSAE’s new executive director on April 1.
Generation III Headform Distribution and Round Robin Testing
In 2024, NOCSAE completed testing and validation for the new Generation III Headform with enhanced biofidelity and data acquisition capabilities. NOCSAE pioneered the development of variable mass biofidelic headforms, which accurately simulate the biomechanics of a human head. These headforms accurately mimic the human impedance and harmonics resulting from real impacts, enabling precise testing of helmets and projectiles.
During the first half of 2025, NOCSAE distributed the new headforms to testing laboratories and helmet manufacturers across the country for the purpose of advancing round robin testing to further validate the small- and medium-sized headforms using the ND006 test protocol. At the summer meeting, NOCSAE reported that four of the five labs participating in the round robin have completed their testing and the fifth lab is expected to wrap up in the coming weeks. Upon conclusion of the testing, NOCSAE Technical Director, Elizabeth McCalley, will conduct an in-person technical session with relevant manufacturers to offer guidance and answer questions.
Updates on Youth Football Helmet Standard
The Standards Committee finalized the performance standard for youth football helmets (ND006) at the Winter Meeting in February and set an effective date of March 1, 2027. A critical next step in moving the standard forward is validating the performance of the small NOCSAE Gen III Headform which is one of the purposes of the round robin testing mentioned above. The Standards Committee received input about the timeframe for completing round robin testing, the value of subsequent technical review of the results, and the need for further refinement to various aspects of the standard to benefit the marketplace once products certified to the standard become available. In response, the committee took voting action to ensure manufacturers have sufficient time to deliver helmets to the marketplace and updated the effective date for ND006 to September 1, 2027.
Manufacturer Authorized Accessories
NOCSAE Technical Director, Elizabeth McCalley, addressed the spectrum of helmet add-on products available in the marketplace and the questions these accessories raise around SEI certification to NOCSAE standards.
NOCSAE standards define a helmet model as a helmet family or design “intended to be identical in every way, except for size.” Any changes, additions or alterations of the model, except for size, color or graphics, even if made by the original manufacturer, result in a new, uncertified model. This concept of limiting certification to a specific model is commonly found in national and international helmet standards.
McCalley acknowledged the complex challenges around certification of add-on products and the impacts on licensees, manufacturers of accessories and consumers. NOCSAE is actively working with relevant stakeholders to explore ways to responsibly address these concerns and identify solutions to facilitate the certification of accessories to NOCSAE standards. All interested parties are invited to submit questions or comments to NOCSAE.
Scientific Advisory Committee Report
Dr. Robert Cantu, NOCSAE vice president and chair of the NOCSAE Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) shared a report on outcomes of the Cantu Concussion Summit and addressed recent catastrophic injuries in high school lacrosse.
• The Cantu Concussion Summit gathered prominent clinicians and researchers with expertise and experience in athletic brain injuries and cognitive disorders to identify current gaps in research. Supported by an education grant from the NFL, the Summit explored the best ways to mitigate the risk of concussion and repetitive traumatic brain injury. Held in December 2023, the unanimous findings from the Summit were published by the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Key recommendations included:
– Eliminate intentional and avoidable head impact in contact and collision sports.
– Encourage policies that limit the number, duration and intensity of head impacts.
– Reinforce proper and safer techniques to avoid head contact at all levels of play.
– Implement rules that penalize intentional and avoidable head and neck contact.
In coordination with the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSIR), and in response to two recent catastrophic head injuries in boys high school lacrosse, NOCSAE conducted an extensive review of relevant injury data about the occurrence of blunt force trauma to the head and/or neck in lacrosse. The review, as Cantu explained, suggests that such injuries are rare and produce variable pathology to the structures of the brain and/or neck. The NCCSIR was created in 1982 to develop a national archive of catastrophic injuries in U.S. sports at the collegiate, high school and youth levels of play, and help improve prevention, evaluation and rehabilitation of sports-related injuries. NOCSAE is a leading funding partner of the NCCSIR.
Standards Updates
The Standards Committee advanced the following revisions and modifications at the Summer Standards Meeting. Detailed information for all standards is available through the NOCSAE Standards Library page.
Revisions
Football Helmet Performance Specification [ND002-25]
• Removed testing parameters and labeling requirements for youth specific helmets. This information is now included in the standard performance specification for newly manufactured youth football helmets [ND006].
Modifications
Pneumatic Ram Test Method [ND081-23m25]
• Added test equipment information for ND006 testing to Section 6.
• Updated Table 1 Gen III Headform information.
• Updated Figure 2 impactor head graphic.
• Added Figure 6 to show instrumentation channels for headforms used on the pneumatic ram.
Football Faceguard Test Method and Performance Specification [ND087-24m25a]
• Clarified number of samples required for testing.
NOCSAE Executive Director Appointment
On April 1, NOCSAE welcomed John Parsons, PhD, as the organization’s new executive director. Parsons comes to NOCSAE from the NCAA, where he served as managing director of the Sport Science Institute since 2014. A passionate advocate for the health and safety of athletes, Parsons began his career as an athletic trainer and represented the NCAA on the NOCSAE board of directors for more than 10 years. He succeeds retiring Executive Director Mike Oliver, who will continue to serve as NOCSAE’s general counsel and act as executive director emeritus through the end of the year. Parsons is the third executive director since the organization was established in 1970. [Learn more].
Parsons welcomes the opportunity to connect directly with anyone that has questions, comments or an interest in learning more about NOCSAE. He can be reached at [email protected].
NOCSAE Standards Committee
NOCSAE is an ANSI accredited Standards Developer, and the NOCSAE Standards Committee serves as the required consensus body in accordance with ANSI Due Process Requirements (Learn more) for standards development organizations. Information about all NOCSAE standards and future Standards Committee meetings is available at nocsae.org. Interested parties are invited to submit comments and questions to NOCSAE Executive Director John Parsons at [email protected].
The next NOCSAE Standards Committee Meeting will be held in Litchfield, AZ on February 13, 2026.