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Park High School football blazes safety trail with Guardian Caps
When the Park High football team takes the field at TCO Stadium Thursday, they’ll be the first team in the state — maybe even the country — to play in Guardian Caps.
COTTAGE GROVE, Minn. — History in Minnesota will be made on Thursday night when the Park Cottage Grove football team becomes the first in the state, maybe in the country, to wear the Guardian Cap, a protective shell over the helmet, during a real game.
Right now, a few football programs in Minnesota wear them during practice, but Park plans to take it a step further in the name of player safety.
The heat forced the Park football players indoors last week, and for head coach Rick Fryklund, the safety of his players is always top of mind. That’s why, over the past three years, he’s invested over $11,000 into the Guardian Cap.
The cap, each costing around $70, is a 7-ounce, foam-padded protective shell for football helmets. Every player in the Park program, from varsity all the way down to sixth grade, wears the Cap during practice.
“Significant investment?” KARE 11’s Randy Shaver asked.
“Absolutely,” said coach Fryklund. “We’re doing things to keep the game safer for our kids — football needs to do those things.”
If the Caps look familiar, it might be because you’ve seen the Vikings wear them in practice this month. Just this year, the NFL mandated Guardian Caps for all teams and all players — at all times — during practice.
“To be completely frank, if they didn’t work and they didn’t keep people safer, I really don’t think the NFL would be mandating what they are,” said Fryklund.
The Cap doesn’t prevent concussions, but they do, it seems, lessen the impact on the brain by 33 percent, according to the company.
Park High doesn’t have hard data to prove that, but the science makes sense to those who treat athletes.
“When you think about the way a concussion happens, it’s because your brain is floating inside your skull, and when you get hit or you experience a whiplash, it bounces around inside your skull,” said Mel Haupt, Park football’s trainer. “So, if we can add something on top of it to absorb some of that force, less force is going to get transmitted through the helmet, through your skull, and then into your brain to cause it to move around and slosh around inside.”
That simple science is why Fryklund decided to take team safety to the next level by wearing the Guardian Cap during games.
“Someone’s got to be the first, and it might as well be us,” said Fryklund.
The National Federation of High Schools sent KARE-TV a statement saying, “The NFHS does not endorse products, including the Guardian Cap, but it has determined that permissive use of this product is not a violation of NFHS football rules.”
The Minnesota State High School League followed suit, saying in part, “…the choice to wear this helmet attachment is left to each of our member schools.”
Rick said his players are all for it, even if the Guardian Cap looks kind of silly.
“I expect people are going to just kind of poke fun of how it looks, but they don’t understand that it really helps keep us safe and we don’t even notice is on our heads,” he said. “And we don’t care what it looks like, we care about being safe,” said David Laturnus, Park senior defensive lineman.
“The over-under is a thousand emails that first week that you’re about to get saying how stupid it looks. But again, we keep kids safer. I’m all for that,” said Fryklund.
“Do you intentionally take more risks because you’re wearing that, or how do you approach the game when you’ve got that on your head?” asked Randy.
“I think some people could, but I don’t really notice when it’s on my head at all. I just play; I’m playing the game and I don’t really pay attention to the Guardian Cap or whatever I do. It’s just — it’s just on my head. I play the game the same way I would if I didn’t have it on,” said Skyler Morgan, Park senior running back.
On Thursday night, Aug. 31, Park High will open the football season against district rival East Ridge at the Vikings’ TCO Stadium practice facility in Eagan. In the past, that matchup would have looked like any other in Minnesota.
Not when Park High takes the field wearing Guardian Caps on their helmets, perhaps becoming the spark that changes the game in Minnesota.
“You’re going to be the guinea pigs,” said Randy.
“I will be the guinea pig, and if I’m the first for player safety and our student-athletes are the first for player safety, I’m totally fine with being the first person,” said Fryklund.
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According to the CDC, 40% of students experience sadness and hopelessness on a regular basis.
ST PAUL, Minn. — At this year’s Minnesota Educators’ Academy (MEA), the main focus was how to better students’ mental health. MEA is the largest development opportunity for educators in Minnesota, and gives teachers the opportunity to learn ways to improve in the classroom and handle the forever-changing needs of students.
“We need more counselors, we need more social workers, school psychologists, school nurses, people who really know their stuff,” said Education Minnesota President Denise Specht. “There are some schools that only have a counselor one day a week. We simply need more teams to address the needs.”
Specht also said having smaller class sizes would help teachers build stronger relationships with their students, potentially bettering their mental health.
According to the CDC, 40% of students experience sadness and hopelessness on a regular basis. Student teacher Caitlin Efta feels social media is playing a large part.
“There’s a lot of bullying and other things that happen online, and a lot of kids are just falling victim to that,” Efta said.
Minnesota’s 2024 teacher of the year Tracy Byrd says to improve students mental health, we need to take the stress off of them.
“Just by letting them know, relax, you are enough, you are okay,” Byrd said. “Don’t put too much pressure on this one assignment or this one test or this one book.”
Women’s Advocates opened in 1974 in St. Paul and is renovating 19 new apartment units to increase shelter space.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Women’s Advocates is considered the first shelter in the nation for survivors of domestic assault. It opened in St. Paul in 1974 and on Thursday, it’s hosting its 50th anniversary gala at the Landmark Center.
The tickets are sold out.
The organization is in the midst of a campaign to raise $14.25 million to acquire and renovate two new facilities in St. Paul to better serve the public. It includes 19 new individual apartment-style units totaling 58 beds for adults and children.
The space would also allow survivors to live with their pets 24/7, increase mental health support, and be ADA-compliant for all genders, sexualities, and abilities.
“It’s hard because we want to work ourselves out of a job, we want to be in a scenario where there’s not violence present in our community, but until we get there, we’re here as a support system for folks needing that,” said Executive Director Holly Henning.
Women’s Advocates currently serves about 50 adults and children, sometimes for three months at a time. It offers services ranging from mental and chemical health to legal advice and financial support.
The organization originally started as a hotline to guide people going through divorce.
“What they were finding when those calls were coming in was much different than, I just need a divorce,” said Henning. “It was folks who were in immediate danger and really needed help beyond that.”
Nowadays, the organization often has to turn people away. Other organizations actively work to find empty beds across the city for survivors in need. But Henning says, that sometimes, the violence people are experiencing is also more severe.
Violence Free Minnesota says that the 40 people killed in domestic violence situations last year is the most in more than three decades of record-keeping.
“It’s about compassion and empathy and I think it’s OK to have emotion, it’s OK to see people human to human and they’re continuously reminding you of why the work is so important,” said Henning.
Henning is also hoping to raise $125,000 during October, which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. If you’d like to donate, you can find more information about the capital campaign here.
There’s also more information about services and ways to connect with someone through the Women’s Advocates 24/7 crisis resource hotline here.
The “Westopolis” name is meant to highlight the cities’ vibrancy and proximity to Minneapolis.
The marketing and tourism organization formerly known as Discover St. Louis Park has rebranded this fall with a bold, new name:
The organization, which launched in 2011 and grew to also incorporate Golden Valley in 2017, began using the “Westopolis” name this month. According to Westopolis President and CEO Becky Bakken, the name is designed to highlight the vibrancy and urban character of St. Louis Park and Golden Valley, which both border Minneapolis and have a combined population of nearly 75,000.
“A lot is behind the name,” Bakken said. “Westopolis just kept speaking to us. In this process, we really leaned into the fact that we are the closest neighbor to downtown Minneapolis. To be honest, we are closer to downtown than parts of Minneapolis are. And it really felt like our primary differentiator.”
Bakken said the change to “Westopolis” is also meant to help the organization communicate better with event planners and out-of-town vendors, who sometimes confuse “St. Louis Park” with St. Louis, MO. Between St. Louis Park and Golden Valley, the cities boast nine hotels with nearly 1,500 combined rooms, and the tourism organization now known as Westopolis plays a key role in drawing visitors and filling those rooms.
“When people are looking for a place to go, that aren’t from this area, they know the big city. They know Minneapolis. We wanted to make sure they knew how close we were to that, and once they’re here they discover all the other things,” Bakken said. “The name is unique, it’s different. It’s not on a map, we understand that. We think the name is edgy, and when we’re working with planners, they’re gonna lean in and say, ‘tell me more about this place.'”
This week, Westopolis is enjoying a nice boost from the Twin Cities Film Fest, a staple of St. Louis Park that draws talent and crew members to the city’s West End from across the country. It’s the kind of annual event that Westopolis would love to see more of in the coming years.
“The West End was sort of the rationale for why Discover St. Louis Park — and now Westopolis — exists. It’s this great area that is a real driver for visitors,” Bakken said. “But both communities have their thing. Golden Valley has a big chunk of Theodore Wirth that we love to claim, and Brookview that has a lot of outdoor activities, so we really like to lean into this urban oasis.”
To unveil the new brand, Westopolis rolled out a website and held a launch party this fall.
“Change is change, and that’s always interesting,” Bakken said, “but mostly people are really excited about the new name and we’re ready to market the new name.”
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