NON-TETHERED

Mouthguard History - How                            fits in:

The                                 Story:

TETHERED

is that solution!

As a former High School head coach, I knew that equipment managers took time picking up lost mouthguards on the field and in the locker room almost every day - and the next day took even more time to replace them. Sometimes so many mouthguards were lost during the season that more mouthguards had to be purchased. I knew most mouthguard loss was because players wedged them in the helmet facemask where they easily fell out. I was sure mouthguard loss could be prevented if there was a designed way to effectively secure a mouthguard to a helmet other than wedging it in the helmet facemask.


It became my goal to try and provide a solution for athletes to secure a mouthguard to a helmet when it was not in their mouth.

I am very pleased that GUARDGRIP not only met my initial goal of providing athletes a safe and effective way to secure a mouthguard to a helmet, but went much further by providing many more benefits such as: saving schools and parents money by reducing mouthguard loss, promoting and increasing mouthguard use, promoting the use of safer - more effective mouthguards, reducing the time and effort equipment managers and trainers take replacing lost mouthguards, providing a distinct place on a helmet so officials and coaches can better monitor mandatory mouthguard rules and providing a secure place inside a locker to keep a mouthguard. 


I am also excited and proud that GUARDGRIP has achieved several major goals since its invention: GUARDGRIP was awarded a United States Patent and has been approved by both the NFHS and NCAA for use in all High School and Collegiate Athletics.

In the last two years I have attended multiple athletic conventions as a vendor for GUARDGRIP; including the AEMA and AFCA Conventions, NC and SC Coaches Conventions and NC and SC Football Coaches Clinics. I also visited athletic departments at numerous High Schools and Universities across the Carolinas. Over this period, I presented GUARDGRIP to hundreds of school athletic representatives including; equipment managers, trainers, coaches and athletic directors. Without exception, all the school athletic representatives I spoke with were impressed with GUARDGRIP’s unique design to safely and effectively secure a mouthguard to a helmet and with its many additional benefits for players, parents, coaches, officials and athletic programs and associations.

                               

                                 BENEFITS:

  • Provides a safe and distinct place for athletes to secure a mouthguard on a helmet
  • Provides a safe and distinct place for athletes to secure a mouthguard in a locker
  • Assists officials and coaches monitoring NFHS and NCAA mouthguard use rules
  • Promotes and helps increase the use of mouthguards
  • Helps prevent mouthguard lose - keeps players eligible and in the game
  • Saves schools and individuals money replacing lost mouthguards
  • Promotes investment of high-quality mouthguards for better oral protection for athletes
  • Helps maintain the physical integrity, design and safety performance of a mouthguard
  • Helps extend the useful life-span of a mouthguard
  • Reduces lost time by equipment managers and trainers replacing lost mouthguards

*NCAA & NFHS APPROVED

Get a Grip!

The Original Mouthguard Holder for Athletic Helmets

Mouthguards were invented for boxing in 1890 by Woolf Krause, a London dentist, and because they proved

effective for oral protection, mouthguards eventually became highly recommended for athletes who play sports

that involve physical contact - especially sports that requires the use of a helmet such as American football.


Mouthguards were mandated for Football in 1962 by the National Federation of State High School Associations

(NFHS) and in 1973 by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).


Over the years, the mouthguard has seen many design changes to enhance the oral safety and protection of athletes. However, one thing hasn't changed over the years. Since the invention of the mouthguard, there are still only two basic types of mouthguards on the market. One designed to be tethered to a helmet - securing the mouthguard to the helmet facemask via a thin strap, and one that is non-tethered - with no designed way of securing the mouthguard to a helmet (or anything else) when it's not in an athlete's mouth.









With that in mind, and based on today’s athletic mouthguard market, if athletes want a mouthguard designed to be secured to a helmet when it's not in their mouth a tethered mouthguard is their only choice. However, the majority of athletes today prefer to use a non-tethered mouthguard - leaving them no designed way to effectively secure a mouthguard to a helmet when it's not in their mouth.


As a result of this problem, athletes improvise methods to secure a non-tethered mouthguard to their helmet; sometimes wedging it between the facemask bars on the helmet or in a helmet vent hole. And other than just holding it in their hand, some athletes put the mouthguard inside their belt or sock, behind their ear, or simply leave it in their mouth where they tend to chew on it.


The greatest consequence of these improvised methods of securing a mouthguard to a helmet is mouthguard loss. Losing a mouthguard not only disqualifies athletes from competition or practice, it also increases equipment costs for the individual athlete and/or school athletic program to replace lost mouthguards; including the cost in valuable time spent by equipment managers or team trainers involved in the process of procuring, distribution and possibly fitting athletes with a new mouthguard. 


Another consequence of having no designed way to effectively secure a mouthguard to a helmet is physical damage or deformity of a mouthguard caused by its being wedged somewhere on the helmet or being chewed. This damage or deformity may compromise the designed safety function of the mouthguard and possibly void any warranty covering oral injury offered by the mouthguard company.


Aside from having no designed way for an athlete to secure a non-tethered mouthguard on the playing field during practice or competition, athletes have no designed way to store and secure a mouthguard in their locker. Between practice and games, most athletes usually leave the mouthguard wedged on their helmet or simply toss it on a locker shelf. As noted above, this situation contributes to many lost mouthguards throughout the course of a season - both on the playing field and in the locker room .


As the evidence above clearly demonstrates, there is no designed way today for athletes to safely and effectively secure a non-tethered type of mouthguard when it's not in their mouth - either to an athletic helmet on the playing field or inside a locker. Subsequently, there is an urgent need for a solution to this problem.

 


A uniquely designed  U.S. PATENTED  mouthguard holder 

that will safely and effectively secure any non-tethered type

of mouthguard to an athletic helmet and inside a locker.