With high school football season starting up, Tucson's ArmorSports is finding plenty of receptions at schools in Arizona, Texas and California for its specially designed AirArmor product that helps guard against knee and leg injuries.

In Texas, a state famous for being avid about high school football, Highland Park High School in Dallas has ordered 10 pair of AirArmor for its offensive line and backfield. Several other schools in the area are also buying the device.

In Arizona, Tucson's Salpointe Catholic High School will have one of the first high school teams to wear AirArmor. ArmorSports awarded Salpointe's lineman John Romero its first MVP award, giving Romero and nine of his teammates AirArmor.

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Michael Austin, chief executive for ArmorSports, said he recently returned from a high school coaches' conference where his company participated in the tradeshow.

"There were 12,000 coaches there and we had very favorable responses to AirArmor," he said. "Coaches and trainers understand that they can put these devices on their defensive backs, quarterbacks, and running backs as well as their offensive and defensive lines without affecting their performance. The key is to let them play as hard and as fast as they can."

Austin said is also pleased with the increase in orders that ArmorSports is receiving from college football teams.

"In the last few days, we've gotten orders from Louisiana State University, Ohio University, Nicholls State in Louisiana, and East Carolina University," he said.

Austin says that some NFL and arena football players are also using AirArmor.

ArmorSports, 2030 N. Forbes Blvd., is anticipating its product will catch on in a variety of sports, including hockey, lacrosse, soccer and basketball.

"Right now we're predominantly supplying football teams, but we have a local basketball player whose doctor has recommended the AirArmor to avoid re-injuring his MCL," said Austin.

An independent study of the NCAA football programs using AirArmor found that athletes wearing the device decreased their chances of incurring a career-ending knee and leg injuries by 95 percent.

Approved by the FDA as a medical device, the knee protection system costs approximately $1,000 per pair. They come in several sizes and are not custom-made, which is cost-effective for the school systems, allowing more than one person to use them. But the payoff in preventing knee injuries could be huge.

"A promising career can be cut short," said Austin. "The knee is the number one body part injured in football and a single injury can cost a scholarship or end a career."

Austin believes that in the long run, health insurance companies will recognize the reduced risk of knee injuries for athletes wearing AirArmor and hopes they will consider reducing insurance rates accordingly.

Austin said the coaches' tradeshow was exciting. "People kept coming up to our booth asking if this was the knee brace that everyone was talking about!"

Contact Martha Lundin at mlundin@azbiz.com or call (520) 295-4259.