To All WFTDA Roller Derby Leagues,

In 2017, we made S1 Iridium Visors compatible with our Lifer Visor Helmet that became popular with roller derby athletes and sparked a debate over the legality of tinted visors in game play. These iridium visors in question were banned from game play and prompted a WFTDA standards change regarding the use of tinted visors during sanctioned WFTDA games.

On May 9th, 2018 the WFTDA released an announcement that the Risk Management Guidelines on tinted visors were clarified to state; “Adjusted visor requirements to allow for tint as long as the visor is transparent. Mirrored and iridium visors are not permitted because they are not transparent on both sides.” These documents are available in the league resource section of wftda.org.

In response to the new guideline, we started developing a new tinted visor that would meet the new requirement and in January of 2019 we sent samples of the proposed new tinted visor to the WFTDA Risk Management team for approval. On February 2nd, 2019, our new sample was approved for meeting the requirements set forth in the Risk Management Guidelines.

We released our new S1 Tinted Visor in late 2019. In 2022, when Roller Derby started to gain more momentum after the long hiatus, we heard from individuals and league officials encountering officials flagging skaters for using the new S1 Tinted Visor, so we reached out to the WFTDA for clarification. Due to the long hiatus the approval of the S1 Tinted Visor for use in sanctioned WFTDA games was not effectively communicated by S1 and the WFTDA across all channels and committees including some Risk Management officials and the Officials Committees. The WFTDA and the Risk Management Committee assured us that they would communicate these updated guidelines through their channels.

I hope this helps clarify our position and timeline with the release and compliance of this product. Please distribute this letter to whomever needs to read it and direct any further questions about this matter to the WFTDA Risk Management Committee or Officials Committee.

Sincerely,

Dan McCashin

Co-Founder | S1 Helmet Co.