Conflict of Interest Statement Regarding Impact Sensors

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, MomsTEAM Institute, Inc. made the decision in 2013 that, in order to continue our objective reporting on and independent evaluation of football helmets and impact sensors, we would no longer accept funding, contributions, donations or sponsorship money from manufacturers of these companies, nor would manufacturers or their representatives to advertise on MomsTeam.com.

In full disclosure: MomsTeam.com is not affiliated with impact sensor companies in any way, and are not an advocacy group for impact sensors and helmet companies. Prior to September 2013, we did allow impact sensor and helmet companies to place ads on MomsTeam.com, and, in accordance with Federal Trade Commission guidelines disclosed the receipt of monies from such companies on the MomsTEAM website, where appropriate.

We have never accepted direct in-kind donations of impact sensors in order to supply them to the leagues or schools participating in our monitoring and field testing programs. Each and every sensor is donated directly to organizations by the manufacturers.

For our PBS documentary THE SMARTEST TEAM: Making High School Football Safer, Impakt Protective donated all the Shockbox sensors directly to the high school for which we developed our evidence-based Six Pillars concussion risk reduction program. The reason we selected the Shockbox sensors was because they were the only sensors on the market at the time (summer/fall 2012). When we learned of i1 Biometrics' impact sensing mouth guard (then called the Hammerhead, now called the Vector), which was nearing launch, we filmed some Newcastle players wearing the mouth guards in order to demonstrate to the viewer that the field was rapidly evolving and growing, and that programs would likely have a wide variety of sensor products from which to choose in the coming years (which, of course, is precisely what happened). 

We do not endorse any particular impact sensor and we only include the sensors we have field tested in our Impact Sensor product guide. We will continue to test sensors and are dedicated to providing all those involved in sports with the most up-to-date information about impact sensors as possible.

On a related note, we also want to make it absolutely clear that we do not receive nor have we ever received any financial contributions from the National Football League.

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