The New Orleans Saints and USA Football conducted a Heads Up Football Player Safety Coach clinic on Saturday, July 20, at the Saints training facility on Airline Drive in Metairie.
USA Football instructed more than 20 Player Safety Coaches, representing leagues throughout the state.
The event lasted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and included helmet and shoulder pad fitting, concussion awareness, Heads Up Tackling training and Heads Up Tackling drills. The participants also ate lunch in the Saints team cafeteria.
USA Football hopes the group will now teach Heads Up Football to their youth league coaches, players and parents.
"The New Orleans Saints play such a huge role in supporting youth football in this region that this event was a natural fit for us," said Saints Director of Youth Programs Jason Trosclair. "The Saints, the NFL and USA Football do a lot of work on finding the best ways to teach the game to kids."
Heads Up Football is a comprehensive approach to a better and safer game, encompassing USA Football's accredited Level 1 Coach Certification Course; Heads Up Tackling techniques; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concussion recognition and response protocols; and instruction on proper helmet and shoulder pad fitting.
