SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — When South Charleston football takes the field this fall, they’ll be donning brand-new headgear.
The Black Eagles program received a $35,000 investment from the WVU Medicine Thomas Foundation, in partnership with the WVU Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, to purchase 56 new helmets. South Charleston opens the season Thursday night against defending Class AAA state runner-up Nitro at 7 p.m.
Dr. Javier Cardenas, chair of Neurology at WVU Medicine’s Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, said that these helmets are heralded as the safest on the market. He said the headgear can mitigate some of the hard hits throughout the course of games.
“If you go to the NFL helmet poster for 2026, you will find the Riddell Axiom helmet at the top of that poster, representing the safest or highest performing helmet that is currently available,” Cardenas said.
Cardenas said NFL athletes who want the Riddell Axiom headgear get custom fitted. Those measurements were done at within the WVU Medicine Thomas Hospitals system several months ago. Guardian Caps, a soft-shell layer that go on top of old-style hard helmets, have become popular in recent years as awareness of brain injuries’ affects after playing football has risen. Cardenas said the Riddell Axiom helmets may not need the Guardian layer.
“In addition to the safety rating, this is called a Guardian Cap-optional helmet, which means that it performed better than the previous year’s helmets that have Guardian Cap on top of it,” Cardenas said. “Finally, it has sensors, and these sensors are on the sides, and the back, and the top of the helmet.”
Cardenas said the sensors then transmit the data for review. He said this is important, especially to discourage crown-of-the-helmet hits. While the program isn’t designed to identify concussions in real time, but rather the particularly impactful hits and where the athletes are getting contacted.
He said that Marion County has already embraced the new helmets, and South Charleston became the first Kanawha County school to receive the investment. The intent is to continue its growth, he said.
“Our goal is for this program to be a statewide program,” Cardenas said. “We’re working with our WVU Medicine hospitals around the state. We are working with our communities. We’re working to find local champions. This is not something that we want to shove down anybody’s throat. We want to make it a vehicle for collaboration and for community development.”
A new Automated External Defibrillator (AED) will also be donated to the South Charleston program with the investment.
South Charleston head football coach Donnie Mays noted that the helmets were not cheap, and credited faith in bringing the much-needed equipment to the program. He said there’s plenty of thanks to go around.
“It’s a remarkable thing that WVU Medicine’s really stepped up and done this for the city of South Charleston and the partnership that we have with them,” Mays said. “So, such an amazing opportunity for our kids to be in the top-of-the-line helmet, and, be able to have data and protect them and player safeties ultimately. Our number one goal as a coach.”
Mays is in his second stint as South Charleston coach. The Black Eagles were crowned state champions in 2020, but were 2-8 in his first season back with the program last fall. Over the past three years under several coaches, South Charleston is a combined 2-28. He’s hopeful that the program can turn the corner starting against the Wildcats.
South Charleston senior offensive lineman Morgan Watts said the new helmets are a sight to see.
“I was very shocked, actually,” Watts said. “Because I’ve always seen these helmets on TV, whether it’s college, NFL, whatever it is. And for one, they look very cool. But the safety aspect of them as well, I feel like that’s very comforting as a player, knowing that you have the extra protection when you’re on the field.”
Watts has committed to play collegiately at Buffalo next year. He and his teammates could tell the difference with the new equipment.
“I feel like you can even press down on the helmets, and you can feel how much extra cushion that you have compared to any other helmet,” Watts said. “I feel like you’re gonna get the same result as you get with the Guardian Cap. So, I feel like that’s gonna be a very big difference and a very good difference as well.”
South Charleston was tabbed eighth in the preseason MetroNews High School Football Power Rankings. Nitro was chosen ninth.