The Nebraska Shrine Bowl features high school seniors from across the state in an annual all-star game for charity. This year, they practiced for 10 days leading up to a game on June 4, 2016 playing to raise money for the Shrine Children’s hospital.
GSC approached the Shrine Bowl to see if they would be interested in using Coach-to-Player helmet technology as a part of practice and on game day. GSC wanted to be able to see how much more quickly and efficiently the game strategies could be implemented with the use of the same type of technology they provide to the NFL and several colleges.
The Shrine Bowl coaches and athletes were thrilled.
Chad Fox is the head coach of the Wahoo, NE football team. He was chosen to be the North coach for the Nebraska Shrine Bowl. We asked Chad Fox his initial thoughts on C2P.
"I was surprised at how easy the set up was. After Alex first installed the systems, the players only needed to plug their battery in. I was surprised at how far away players could hear me on the field. It was very easy to communicate with the QBs since they were all wearing the receivers in their helmets.”
Chad used the C2P as a practice tool for the quarterbacks. He found that the systems were particularly helpful in communicating through the QBs to the running backs. He was able to offer on-the-field tips to players and found it very beneficial as a coaching tool for the short amount of time he had with his players.
One of the benefits that Chad discovered with C2P was the ability to give instant feedback to players. He was able to make private and immediate suggestions and could make more quick reminders than if he had to wait for the QB to come off the field.
“In this day and age we live in, players want that immediate feedback. Instant. They’ve been conditioned to this with the tech they live with in their everyday lives. The kids thrive on feedback. Provide it to them, and it makes the players better. Which makes your team better."
Coach Fox also thought that C2P can help teams overcome a lot of obstacles during practice. Without having to worry about wind or shouting, players are just able to hear instruction better with the C2P system directly in their helmets.
When asked if he would be worried if his opponents had C2P as part of their practices and he didn’t, he said,
“I wouldn’t like it. It gives a team a definite advantage especially in game preparations. Communication is critical in the game of football. Making it easier and more effective will only make your preparations for the game better as well."
