FARMINGTON – It’s new and different and not well-accepted, said Seabren Reeves of his headgear.

Reeves, a senior business major at University of Maine Farmington, is also the starting goalkeeper for the school’s soccer team. He has been wearing a foam headband that protects his head from traumatic injury since the beginning of the season.

The protective headgear is designed and manufactured by Full 90, a company founded by Jeff Skeen of San Diego. A developer of protective headgear for 20 years, Skeen saw his 17-year-old daughter sustain a concussion during a soccer game in 2002 that ended her soccer career. It was her third traumatic head injury in as many years.

After her second, Skeen designed a prototype for his daughter, which she wore until referees asked her to remove it. After her third injury, Skeen was on a mission.

According to him, there are 20 million soccer players in the country, many are children.

And children are Reeves’ focus.

The goalkeeper from Cornish has a 6-year-old sister who participates in the sport, and he is determined to be a role model for her and others. Having sustained an eye injury from an encounter with the ball in high school, he feels that head protection should be implemented for all players “sooner rather than later.”

“Parents should look at the statistics,” he said. “The product is out there to protect kids; it should be considered.”

Repetitive head blows, such as those associated with boxing, may cause neurological damage. Though studies are not conclusive as to the effects of the repetitive heading of a soccer ball, there is no doubt that head injuries do occur on the soccer field. The American Academy of Pediatrics considers soccer a contact sport and the only one not requiring head protection.

An independent study done at North Dakota State University, used crash-test dummys’ heads to test the head guard. Results indicated that the headgear can reduce traumatic head injuries up to 50 percent in head-to-goal-post contact, 30 percent in head-to-ground contact and 20 percent in head-to-head contact.

“If they make you wear a mouthpiece, why not head protection?” Reeves asked. Losing a few teeth doesn’t make you less intelligent, he added.

Despite ribbing from his teammates, who call the head guard a sweatband, Reeves said he feels more secure with it on and, in fact, feels more vulnerable without it.

Both Reeves and Skeen recognize the stigma that wearing head protection puts on the game. Skeen said the use of head protection is seen as an admission of the inherent dangers of the game. Reeves said he believes his teammates think he is a bit nerdy or not tough enough.

But times are changing.

According to Skeen, 17 players in the most recent soccer World Cup and 11 in the Olympics wore a head guard. More than 100,000 Full 90 head guards have sold since September 2003.