By CAMERON KITTLE Staff Writer

Safety first has never felt so good.

Youth football players in Nashua’s Police Athletic League each received a new cushioned helmet this year to expand the organization’s effort to mitigate concussions.

The Xenith X2 helmets, made in Lowell, Mass., are engineered specifically to prevent against head injuries.

“The consensus from experts is that safe equipment is the number one way to prevent concussions,” said Brendan Keegan, president of the organization. “We made the significant investment to put safety first.”

Nashua isn’t alone. The Amherst Patriots youth football organization also made efforts to combat concussions this summer and announced a partnership with local doctor Ted Davis and the ImPACT program, which will help to catch dangerous head injuries early and protect young athletes in the program.

The Police Athletic League spent $19,800, about a third of its annual budget, on 130 helmets for its tackle-football players, Keegan said. It was a huge cost, but coaches and parents believe the payoff is worth it.

“I feel more comfortable that my kids are being protected with the latest technology,” said Tim Krulikowski, a Nashua parent with a son in the league. “I can’t say enough good things. It’s all about the kids.”

The league’s helmets were old last year – bought in the program’s first year, 2004, and near the end of their 10-year lifespan – and that worried several coaches.

Bryce Ouellette, who coaches fourth- and fifth-grade players, said the new helmets are a huge step forward.

“We’re lucky nothing serious happened (with the old helmets),” he said. “It almost seemed like they were putting bricks on their heads and running into each other.”

Hits to the side of the head are actually more dangerous than head-on collisions, Keegan said, which led the league to also develop a partnership with Shock Doctor mouthguards, which help to stop jaw movement during a hard hit.

The Police Athletic League founded the Nashua PAL Force football and spirit programs in 2004 and they have been growing ever since. Keegan said numbers are up by about 50 players and cheerleaders in the past two years, thanks to successful outreach and parents coming around to the positive steps taken by the organization.

“It’s a combination of a lot of hard work,” said Bill Grady, the league’s public relations director. “We make an effort to participate in the community and reach out to families.”

The league has taken additional precautions to prevent concussions, including a “When in doubt, sit him out” rule with no exceptions.

“If we’re unsure at all, we always err with the axiom,” Keegan said.

Grady also pointed to the education and awareness that go along with the new helmets. Parents need to know the symptoms of concussions and how they can be treated at home. Coaches need to know what drills to toss out and how to avoid awkward, dizzying hits.

“It’s all about dispersing the blow,” Grady said.

Every coach in the league and many parents also took an online course this summer to learn about concussions. A few others have attended sessions at Southern New Hampshire Medical Center for even more information.

“About 35 years ago, I practiced on this field as a Nashua Steer; we used to call concussions ‘burners’ and we’d go back out there,” Keegan said. “Now, you’re taught to hit differently. The drills for the players are all different.”

Fifth-grader Nate Nugent, 11, said it was exciting to have new helmets, and he’s already felt the improved effects after being hit.

“It’s got much, much better cushioning; my head doesn’t hurt as much after games,” said Nugent, a student at Broad Street School.

With the Xenith X2s, coaches can also be more involved in testing how a helmet fits.

Traditional football helmets are pumped with air, Keegan said, and a coach can’t always keep track of the amount of air pressure in a particular kid’s helmet during a game. But the Xenith X2s are tightened with side straps that adjust the pressure on their own.

“It’s a custom fit every time it goes on,” Keegan said.

Certified technicians from Xenith made the trip north to fit all 130 kids into helmets before league play started, Keegan said. That had a pronounced effect on parents and coaches, who were pleased to see such attention paid to the kids’ safety.

“Parents see the way we take care of their kids; they can tell we put in the effort,” Keegan said. “When you put in something good, it usually comes back around.”

Cameron Kittle can be reached at 594-6523 or . Also check out Kittle on Twitter.

© 2009, Telegraph Publishing Company, Nashua, New Hampshire

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