Cascade Lacrosse has reached an agreement with the National Operating Committee on Standards for Athletic Equipment (NOCSAE) on a solution for the recently decertified Cascade R Helmet
The solution will involve a simple modification to Cascade R helmets currently in the marketplace. NOCSAE has accepted the solution. Cascade’s data confirms the helmet, as modified by this solution, meets NOCSAE certification standards. For NOCSAE certification purposes, the modified helmet is treated as a new model, identified as the Cascade R-M, although it will continue to be marketed by Cascade under the Cascade R name. Moving forward all newly manufactured Cascade R-M helmets will be certified as meeting the NOCSAE standards. A tamper-resistant sticker will be placed on all modified helmets as well as on newly manufactured Cascade R-M helmets to differentiate them from non-certified Cascade R models. Model R helmets that have not been ofifcially modified by Cascade do not meet NOCSAE standards and certification will remain void.
Cascade will make the modification to existing helmets at its Liverpool, N.Y. facility beginning December 16, 2014. The modification will be free of charge for consumers and retailers, including shipping.
“We are extremely pleased that Cascade and NOCSAE have reached an agreement to modify existing Cascade R helmets and put helmets back in play for our loyal customers,” said Tim Ellsworth, Global Business Director, Cascade Lacrosse. “We have been working closely with NOCSAE and will work diligently to ensure that all Cascade R helmets returned are modified as quickly as possible. We thank everyone for their patience and support.”
To fully reinstate the NOCSAE license, which was suspended in conjunction with the R model decertification, Cascade is cooperating with a review by NOCSAE of certification data for all of its models, and is having a third-party audit of Cascade’s quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC) processes.
Cascade is currently finalizing its own internal audit and expects the third-party QA/QC audit to be completed by December 18, 2014. NOCSAE will partially reinstate Cascade’s license agreement for the production of new Cascade R-M helmets upon demonstratiion of satisfactory audit results fr its QA/QC processes. The license agreement will be fully restored for other Cascade models upon demonstrating that such models certified by Cascade are supported by necessary data.
Cascade is also currently reviewing test results for all of its lacrosse helmets to ensure they meet both Cascade and NOCSAE standards.
