Innovative Sports Equipment Produced in Peachtree Corners

A Peachtree Corners company designs and manufactures sporting equipment worn by youth and high school football teams and college teams — and most recently, mandated by the NFL.

Guardian Innovations was formed in 2011 by Erin and Lee Hanson, along with other family members and dedicated employees. It was created as a sister company to their material science company, The Hanson Group.

Their flagship product is the Guardian Cap, created to advance the standard football helmet by dispersing some of the energy that is generated during impacts. Erin and Lee engineered, patented and manufacture the Guardian Cap, a lightweight, external soft cover that fits on existing football helmets.

Caps start to catch on

Several years ago, the company started selling Guardian Caps to youth football teams. The one-size-fits-all helmet covers drew the attention of several notable football players. NFL running back Jerome Bettis, best known for his performances as a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers, purchased the caps for the Milton Steelers of Milton, Ga., along with the late Tim Lester, former full-back and friend of Bettis.

“They wouldn’t let the team play without Guardian Caps,” said Jake Hanson, director of strategy and operations at Guardian and a Wesleyan and Georgia Institute of Technology graduate.

The musician Snoop Dog donated 2,000 caps to underprivileged youth playing in his California youth league. Little by little, the helmet covers started to be worn by more youth teams and then high school and college teams. Clemson University has worn Guardian Caps in practices for the past 11 seasons.

When quarterback Matthew Stafford suffered an injury to his hand, coach Sean McVay required the caps be worn to protect Stafford’s throwing hand. Guardian Caps were really catching on.

Reporters started writing articles, “What’s with the padded helmet caps the 49ers are wearing at training camp?”

In 2022, after independent testing by NFL-appointed engineers, the NFL mandated the covers be worn during training camp practices. As a result, the NFL observed more than a 50% reduction in concussions, compared to a prior three-year average of those position groups mandated.

The 2022 preseason was the first time players from all 32 NFL teams wore the Guardian Cap. All offensive linemen, defensive linemen, tight ends and linebackers were required to wear the padded shell on their helmets in practices until the second preseason game, according to NFL.com.

Expanding on a good idea

The Hansons were teased at first. People said they were trying to put bubble wrap on football players. “You’re laughed at and considered crazy…until you’re not,” Lee Hanson said. Many players didn’t want the game to look different, even though they agreed that better outcomes were needed.

The Guardian Cap is only one of many products engineered and produced by the company — all with the common theme of improving equipment for athletes. After the success of the Guardian Cap, the Hansons turned their efforts to lacrosse.

Jake was a lacrosse goalie for Georgia Tech, putting him at the end of the firing range for lacrosse balls. They knew they could do better than the hard, rubber balls made in Asia that would get harder and go out of spec over time.

In lacrosse, an older ball that has become extremely hard and lost all grip is referred to as “a greaser.” Guardian’s answer was the PEARL ball, manufactured in their Peachtree Corners facility and made completely out of a urethane that doesn’t change over time. Guardian Innovations is the only lacrosse ball manufacturer in the U.S., and their PEARL is now used by 13 out of the top 20 NCAA D-1 Men’s Teams.

The company also manufactures a turf infill product called Guardian Bio-Based TPE Infill made of corn and soy. It is natural and keeps fields up to 28 degrees cooler. Unlike other infill products, Guardian BioBase doesn’t emit toxins when hot.

The Hansons seem to enjoy solving problems in the sports realm. The local family has 25+ years of experience operating the sister material science company, The Hanson Group. It has operated out of its Adriatic Court location since 2014. The company now occupies 90,000 square feet over eight acres and has 34 employees.