VICIS, Schutt Helmets Top Updated Virginia Tech Football Safety Ratings

PLAINVIEW, Ind.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jul 17, 2025--

This week, the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab recalibrated its helmet testing protocols to better reflect how well helmets manage impacts tied to concussion risk, and bothVICISandSchutthelmets continue to meet and exceed these more rigorous safety standards while other popular models drop in rating.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250717288949/en/

This shift aims to ensure that 5-star ratings reflect only the most advanced protection available. As a result, the number of youth football helmets earning a 5-star rating decreased by more than 75%, with only six helmets earning a top rating.

The VICIS ZERO2 Youth helmet now remains among one of only two 5-star-rated youth helmets readily available for purchase.

“These updated ratings are monumental for football safety at every level,” said Jeremy Erspamer, CEO of Certor Sports, parent company of Schutt and VICIS. “They re-establish what it means to be a top-performing helmet and provide a clearer roadmap for parents and coaches to choose the best protection for their athletes. We are proud that VICIS and Schutt helmets continue to set the gold standard as we protect the future of the game.”

Virginia Tech’s STAR (Summation of Tests for the Assessment of Risk) system evaluates helmets based on how well they reduce head acceleration in sports-specific impact scenarios tied to concussion risk. With stricter thresholds, only helmets with exceptional performance now earn the highest 5-star designation.Virginia Tech Helmet Lab only recommends players wear helmets that receive a 5-star or 4-star rating.

In the Youth Football Helmet category, the VICIS ZERO2 Youth earned a 5-star rating, placing it in the top tier for impact protection. Multiple Schutt helmets received a 4-star rating, reaffirming the brand’s reputation among parents, coaches, and programs seeking elite-level head protection.

In the Varsity Football Helmet category, only 11 varsity helmets received 5 stars, including four from Certor Sports, the most of any other brand. The VICIS ZERO2 and VICIS ZERO2 TRENCH remain standout performers, both earning a 5-star rating under the tightened benchmarks. The Schutt F7 2.0 was recognized for its superior impact severity reduction, also receiving a 5-star rating.

“These new ratings should be a wake-up call with Virginia Tech no longer recommending some of the most commonly used helmets in youth and varsity football,” Erspamer said. “Just because a helmet is widely used doesn’t mean it’s the safest. This should be a moment of reckoning for the entire football ecosystem, from manufacturers to coaches and parents. We owe it to young athletes to go beyond familiarity and focus on verified protection.”

Certor Sports' continued innovation and leadership in protective design ensures that its helmets consistently rank among the safest in the game, an achievement made more meaningful by the raised bar.

To learn more about VICIS helmets, visit www.vicis.com, and to learn more about Schutt helmets, visit www.schuttsports.com.

About Certor Sports

Certor Sports, LLC, located in Plainfield, Indiana, is a domestic sporting goods manufacturer and parent company for leading protective and equipment brands, including VICIS, Schutt Sports, and TUCCI. From protection to performance, Certor Sports has developed emerging technologies used by MVP-caliber professionals to youth athletes competing each weekend. To learn more, visit www.certorsports.com.

The VICIS ZERO2 Youth helmet is one of only two 5-star-rated youth helmets available to youth athletes.

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A Brazilian Supreme Court Justice on Thursday ordered the transfer of former President Jair Bolsonaro from the federal police headquarters in Brasilia to a much bigger cell with an outside area in the Papuda Penitentiary Complex, also in the capital.

The transfer was described as a move to a facility with “more favorable conditions” for high-profile detainees.

Since November, Bolsonaro has been carrying out a 27-year prison sentence for attempting a coup despite his 2022 electoral defeat. His lawyers have been pushing for a transfer to house arrest on medical grounds.

Michelle Bolsonaro, his wife, and his sons have regularly said that Bolsonaro is being mistreated and not getting adequate medical attention.

In the court decision, Justice Alexandre de Moraes denied the accusations. “Regrettably and falsely, there has been a systematic attempt to delegitimize the regular and lawful execution of the custodial sentence of Jair Messias Bolsonaro, which has been carried out with full respect for human dignity."

Bolsonaro had been in a 12-square-meter room with a bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning, a TV set and a desk, and Moraes ordered Bolsonaro's transfer to an even more comfortable situation. He determined that Bolsonaro be transferred to a 54-square-meter room with a 10-square-meter outside area that he can access at will.

Following the transfer, Bolsonaro will also have increased time for family visits and physiotherapy equipment such as a treadmill and bicycle will be installed. The new area resembles an apartment, with a double bed, a kitchen, a laundry, a living room and an outdoor area.

The Supreme Court’s press office said the transfer had already happened.

Since starting his sentence, Bolsonaro has made several trips to a nearby hospital, most recently after falling out of bed and hitting his head.

Moraes decided that Bolsonaro can have “full assistance, 24 (twenty-four) hours a day, from previously registered private doctors, without the need for prior notification.”

Moraes also ordered a medical examination to assess Bolsonaro's health and determine whether he needs to be transferred to a penitentiary hospital.

Bolsonaro has been hospitalized multiple times since being stabbed at a campaign event before the 2018 presidential election.

The former president and several of his allies were convicted by a panel of Supreme Court justices for attempting to overthrow Brazil’s democracy following his 2022 election defeat.

The plot included plans to kill President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Vice President Geraldo Alckmin and Justice de Moraes. The plan also involved encouraging an insurrection in early 2023.

The former president was also found guilty of charges including leading an armed criminal organization and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law.

Bolsonaro has always denied wrongdoing.

In Thursday’s court order, Moraes said that Bolsonaro was convicted of extremely serious crimes and that his custodial sentence was not a “hotel stay or a vacation colony” as statements from Bolsonaro’s sons’ cited in the decision “mistakenly seem to demand.”

FILE - Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro stands at the entrance of his home while he is under house arrest in Brasilia, Brazil, Sept. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Nova, File)