In the Media: On the cutting edge: Husky helmets get a dose of style
AURORA — No, they don’t make the Huskies run faster on the base paths, or hit better at the plate. They don’t even provide more protection than average baseball helmets.
In fact, other than their fancy paint, North Marion’s new helmets are really no different than other helmets.
They just happen to look cooler.
The new helmets feature a cutting-edge paint job with a simulated three-dimensional carbon fiber look, courtesy of Hydrographics Inc. The Newberg-based company has also been associated with painting the University of Oregon football helmets, and put its talents to work on the first high school baseball team in the state to utilize the look.
“They turned out really good and the kids think they’re pretty cool,” said North Marion baseball coach Randy Brack, who credited Phil Gendhar with spearheading the effort.
Gendhar, who grew up in Canby, and has been a part of the North Marion community for about eight years, is the tournament director for North Marion PRYDE, and is also a board member of Junior Baseball Organization and Clackamas County Junior Baseball.
The project began in January and was finalized in March, which included an extensive process of obtaining OSAA approval for the helmets. On March 15, the helmets had returned from Hydrographics. The decals were placed on the helmets at about noon and within a few hours, the Huskies were playing in their season opener against Philomath.
Hydrographics did the work at a fraction of the normal retail cost.
“They ended up knocking the price down to almost nothing,” said Gendhar.
North Marion was left with an out-of-pocket cost of $450 for both the varsity and junior varsity helmets, which was covered by the PRYDE organization.