As part of its ongoing efforts to support the team business during the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Sporting Goods Association (NSGA) has teamed up with the  National Athletic Equipment Reconditioners Association (NAERA) on “Football Helmet Reconditioning in Unprecedented Conditions,” a video that looks at many of the challenges ahead for football helmet reconditioning during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the video, two experts from NAERA – executive director Tony Beam and president Bob Fawley – look at how the uncertainty of the fall football season impacts the important safety aspect of reconditioning of helmets and other football equipment in a Q&A moderated by Marty Maciaszek, NSGA’s director of communications and Team Dealer Division.

“There have been a lot of questions directed to NAERA and NAERA reconditioners since mid-March when COVID-19 started affecting everyone’s lives,” Beam says. “We are excited to have the opportunity to work with NSGA to share this very important safety-related information with supporters involved in the football community.”

Among the questions covered in “Football Helmet Reconditioning in Unprecedented Conditions” are:

• What needs to be done for a program planning to play in the spring of 2021 and return to a traditional fall schedule a few months later?
• How will so many schools and programs trying to play in the spring of 2021 affect the entire reconditioning process?
• What should schools and programs do if their seasons are shortened or canceled because of COVID-19?
• Why is it important to get shoulder pads reconditioned?
• How quickly should equipment be given to a reconditioner?
• Why is it important to use a NAERA licensed reconditioner?
• How did COVID-19 impact the reconditioning process this spring and summer?
• How does the reconditioning process work and why is it important?

“We are grateful that NSGA could work with NAERA and two highly respected and knowledgeable people in the reconditioning field in Tony Beam and Bob Fawley,” says Matt Carlson, NSGA President & CEO. “They do an excellent job of breaking down all of the challenges ahead with reconditioning and the COVID-19 pandemic. This is a forward-looking resource for sporting goods retailers and team dealers, football coaches at any level, athletic directors, school and youth league administrators and members of the media.”

Fawley owns Capitol Varsity Sports in Oxford, OH, which has been one of the country’s leading sporting goods equipment sellers, team dealers and equipment reconditioners since 1954. Capitol Varsity Sports was a founding member of NAERA in 1975 and is one of 15 licensed NAERA reconditioners nationwide.

“Capitol Varsity and other reconditioners have coaches and athletic directors asking how various scenarios from COVID-19 could affect the reconditioning process,” Fawley adds. “’Football Helmet Reconditioning in Unprecedented Conditions’ looks at all the issues ahead and it is a great way for anyone involved with football to get all the answers they need.”

“Football Helmet Reconditioning in Unprecedented Conditions” is available for viewing on NSGA’s COVID-19 Reopening Resources page at https://www.nsga.org/advocacy/covid-19-resource-page/covid-19-video-resources/. It is the latest in a series of resources NSGA has put together for NSGA members and the sports industry in response to the pandemic.