LITCHFIELD PARK, AZ (February 16, 2026) — The National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) held its Winter Board of Directors and Standards Committee Meetings on February 13-14, 2026. NOCSAE reported progress on youth football helmet certification, considered a solution pathway for helmet add-on accessories, established a working group to address facemask removal requirements and approved creation of a public-facing helmet database. The meeting also featured updates on headform quality control, testing infrastructure improvements, educational training initiatives, women’s lacrosse stick research and ongoing technical standards refinement.
Youth Football Helmet Certification (ND006)
Following a comprehensive and collaborative round robin testing program involving four participants, including two manufacturers and two independent laboratories, NOCSAE completed evaluation of youth football helmet performance in late fall / early winter 2025.
After reviewing the round robin results, SEI (Safety Equipment Institute) commenced with the certification of products to the NOCSAE’s Youth Football Helmet Performance Specification. To date, several youth football helmet models have been certified to the standard and are available to consumers.
Public Access to the NOCSAE Helmet Database
The Board of Directors approved the creation of an online, public-facing portal to provide transparent access to NOCSAE’s comprehensive helmet database, containing approximately 4.2 million football helmets. This database is the product of a multi-year industry effort by NOCSAE and its manufacturer and recertifier licensees to place RFID labels in all newly manufactured and recertified helmets. NOCSAE has invested $3.5 million in this initiative since it launched in 2014.
Once available to the public, the database will provide users with information about the manufacturing date (or age of the helmet), model name, brand name, size, most recent recertification dates, and the status of the certification.
Once operable, this database will provide unprecedented information to consumers and players who want to know more about their helmet and if it has been regularly recertified over its lifespan. This initiative enhances transparency for athletes, coaches, parents, and athletic administrators seeking to verify helmet certification status and make informed equipment decisions.
Add-on Accessories Pathway
The Standards Committee advanced discussions on reducing barriers for manufacturers who choose to embrace the use of equipment add-ons, such as football helmet covers, with their helmet products. While a clear pathway currently exists for manufacturers interested in add-on products, the goal of the current effort is to reduce and/or eliminate unnecessary or burdensome requirements in the model certification process, while maintaining the rigorous quality control to which the base helmet model is subjected. Importantly, NOCSAE remains committed to ensuring that helmet manufacturers retain the authority to accommodate an add-on product.
NOCSAE will draft a conceptual definition of “add-on accessories” and develop a solution pathway for Summer 2026 consideration, with the goal of facilitating innovation while maintaining the rigorous performance standards and enhancing consumer clarity.
Facemask Removal Requirements (ND015)
Recognizing the critical importance of airway access during medical emergencies, the Board of Directors approved formation of a working group to review the requirements of standard ND015 (the Faceguard Corrosion Standard) as they relate to removal of the faceguard when a helmet is being worn by a player.
This initiative affirms NOCSAE’s commitment to ensure that in the event of an emergency, medical responders can quickly access airways without obstruction from permanently affixed facemasks or corroded hardware. Both the NOCSAE Standards Committee and the Board of Directors have a diverse professional composition, including physicians, athletic trainers and equipment managers for whom this issue is of significance.
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 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 meeting of the NOCSAE Board of Directors Standards Committee will be in Minneapolis, MN on July 17-18, 2026.