Cascade Headgear

The Cascade LX is the world's first women's lacrosse headgear to meet the ASTM F3137 standard, a category that did not exist before this product was built.

The ASTM F3137 standard introduced a unique engineering challenge: unlike conventional hard-shell helmets, compliant headgear was required to deform on impact, reducing injury risk during head-to-head contact with players who may not be wearing protection. This demanded materials and construction approaches that had never previously been used in protective lacrosse equipment. Cascade committed to being first to market with a compliant product, and the LX delivered.

I joined the program at a pivotal point in mid-development, quickly ramping up on prior research, testing decisions, and design constraints before taking senior design responsibility for the construction and configuration of the headgear. My role spanned detailed CAD development across multiple variants, lab and field testing validation, and maintaining a clear long-term vision for the LX as the flagship product in a brand new equipment category.

The development process shown below runs from early sketch ideation through extensive physical prototyping, T1 sample builds, and final production product — each stage shaped by athlete feedback, ASTM compliance testing, and the goal of creating something players would actually want to wear.