Tempe Republic - Article about the Helmet Project
   
                                                                                                         
                       
"State football helmet designs collected on Web site"
                        
                       
By Amy Brittan
Friday, August 8, 2008
The Republic/AZCENTRAL.COM
                       
                       
Scanned version of the article
                        
                                                                                                         
                        Don Gilbert doesn't fit the mold of an Arizona high school football guru.                        
                                                                                                         
                        The 39-year-old Plymouth, Mass., resident never played high school football and lives far from Arizona's gridiron action.                        
                                                                                                         
                        But those factors didn't stop Gilbert, a 1987 alumnus of Mesa's Westwood High School, from starting an online database of Arizona high school helmet designs.                        
                                                                                                         
                        "Everyone has their own hobbies, and it doesn't matter how strange they can be," he said. They could be electric trains or basevall cards. This just happens to be mine."                        
                                                                                                         
                        Gilbert launched the non-profit Web site azhelmetproject.com in April. The site display 133 of 220 Arizona high school football helmets and lets uders sort helmets by region or conference.                        
                                                                                                         
                        It may just be a hobby for Gilbert, but loyal high school football followers frequently express thanks for his efforts to preserve the sport's history.                        
                                                                                                         
                        Fans, coaches and players can help Gilbert catalog the remaining 40 percent of Arizona high school helmets by submitting photos or decals.                        
                                                                                                         
                        Once Gilbert receives the image, he edits a generic helmet template in Photoshop to replicate the school's colors, logo and stripes.                        
                                                                                                         
                        His design skills even caught the eye of coach Dennis Bene of Tucson Salpointe Catholic High School. Bene asked for Gilbert's help in redesigning his team's helmet.                        
                                                                                                         
                        "He put several choices in 3D for us, and it was a really easy for us to make the changes," he said. "I think what he's doing for high school football is really neat. Anybody that tries to preserve the history of the game at any level... I think that is tremendous work."                        
                                                                                                         
                        Gilbert learned his trade from Mike Kersey, 42, who runs similar high school helmet Web sites in Missouri and Illinois.                        
                                                                                                         
                        Both men were inspired by Charles Arey's long-running "The Helmet Project" Web site. which catalogs NCAA and NFL helmets from 1960 to the present.                        
                                                                                                         
                        Kersey and Gilbert have never met, but Kersey helped his Internet pal by providing a helmet template and encouraging Gilbert to brush up on Photoshop skills.                        
                                                                                                         
                        Kersey, a Stewartsville, Mo. resident, said his Missouri site is almost complete, but his Illinois venture has far to go.                        
                                                                                                         
                        "I get quite a few e-mails from coaches expressing their appreciation for what I'm doing for high school football," Kersay said. "I don't consider it really doing anything. To me, it's just a Web site that shows helmets."                        
                                                                                                         
                        Gilbert, like Kersey, said he is mainly fueled by the desire to master his hobby.                        
                                                                                                         
                        Gilbert said he's mostly missing helmets from Class 1A, 2A, 3A teams because of the teams' limited media exposure.                        
                                                                                                         
                        "I'm sure the site will never really be completed," Gilbert said. "It will be on-going because the high school helmets change throughout the years."