When a youth, middle school, or high school football season comes to an end in November, it’s always important to have their helmets and other equipment reconditioned for the following season. For some states around the country, the COVID-19 pandemic postponed football season from the fall to the spring. Even though there is now a shorter amount of time before the new season presumably starts in the fall, it’s still important to get the helmets and equipment reconditioned.  

“Riddell has long maintained that a football program or an individual player with their own helmet should recondition their helmets and equipment following each season of use,” said Erin Griffin, Vice President of Marketing & Communications for Riddell, the official protective equipment partner of USA Football. “That would be the same guidance following the spring football season as we’re heading into the fall.”

After any season, it’s crucial that programs, teams and individuals pack up their helmets and equipment and arrange for them to be sent out for reconditioning. Timing is always important to ensure that everything is returned in time for the start of the next season. So, it’s imperative that those teams and individuals with their own equipment who played in the spring send everything in for reconditioning as soon as possible. Riddell is working hard to make the turnaround time such that everyone receives their equipment back in time for fall practice.

“If you are a football program with helmets at scale…a full team’s helmets, once the helmets reach our facility and the job is arranged, we are estimating about six weeks until the equipment is shipped and returned back to the program,” said Griffin. “Our reps have mobilized to pick up reconditioning at the conclusion of the spring season and get the equipment to our facilities in a timely fashion so that is the timeline we’re looking at for a team customer.”

While programs and schools send their helmets and equipment back to Riddell through their reps, the process for individuals with their own personal equipment is a bit different. 

These individuals have to visit Riddell’s website to make arrangements to send the equipment back and to assess what is needed to complete the reconditioning and recertification process.  

As the world continues to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic, Riddell is also offering customers Sports O-Zone, an optional enhancement to reconditioning that is focused on sanitization. 

Riddell will clean and sanitize the equipment using Sports O-Zone’s patented system providing an even deeper clean. It is also effective against MRSA/Staph, VRE and various other bacteria, viruses and molds including RSV and IAV that mimic COVID-19 (All claims supplied by Sports-O-Zone USA, Elkhart, IN).  

These have been challenging times for football teams and players around the country, especially in those states that made the decision to postpone the football season from the fall to the spring. When it comes to playing football, health and safety is always a primary concern and that includes the reconditioning and recertification of helmets and other equipment.  Getting the equipment sent back in a timely fashion is always important and it’s even more imperative for those who played in the spring to move quickly on shipping their helmets and other equipment out so that they can get them back for the fall.   

Peter is a sports anchor for the CBS Sports Radio Network and WFAN Radio in New York.  His son Bradley is a freshman in high school and is a participant in the U.S. National Team program while his younger son Jared enjoys playing flag football.   Peter, his wife Sheryl and the boys are busy cheering on the New York Jets when they’re not at a high school or flag football field.