Key Takeaways
- Rumble Rims, a low-cost infrared eye-tracking headset built by three Harvard students, took the $6,500 U.S. national prize on September 16.
- CDC data cited in the release puts sports-related concussions at 15.1% of U.S. high school students, roughly 2.5 million, in a single year.
- The device is positioned as a screening tool only; return-to-play calls stay with a qualified healthcare provider.
- Rumble Rims moves to the international Top 20 shortlist, announced October 14, with global winners named November 4.
A 60-Second Eye Test Built for the Sideline
Three Harvard University students, Radhika Saran, Cleo Pontone, and Sophia DeVito, were named U.S. National Winners of the 2026 James Dyson Award on September 16 for Rumble Rims, a low-cost infrared headset designed to bring sideline concussion screening to schools in about 60 seconds. The national prize carries $6,500, per the James Dyson Award announcement, and the team now advances to the competition’s international shortlist.
The system has three parts, according to the release: a portable infrared headset, a coach-facing mobile display, and a recovery dashboard. The headset uses infrared cameras and hot mirrors that reflect infrared light back to the cameras while letting visible light pass through, so the athlete keeps a clear line of sight. The athlete completes an oculomotor task that captures how the eyes follow, fixate, and move. The coach’s display then translates those measurements into real-time guidance on whether a player should come out and be referred for medical evaluation. After the game, the dashboard supports repeat testing to build an objective record for families and clinicians during recovery.
The design landed on a headset only after the team tested and discarded helmets, mouthguards, a black-curtain room, and expandable enclosures around the screen and camera, the release said. Accuracy, they found, depended less on controlling the room and more on controlling the relationship between the eyes and the cameras.
How Big Is the Youth Concussion Problem?
The release leans on CDC figures to frame the need. About seven in 10 emergency department visits for sports- and recreation-related traumatic brain injuries and concussions involve children 17 and under, according to CDC research published in 2019, and contact sports account for roughly 45% of those visits among children.
Separately, a CDC analysis of the 2017 Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 15.1% of U.S. high school students, approximately 2.5 million, reported at least one sports- or activity-related concussion in the prior 12 months. CDC guidance also calls for any athlete with a suspected concussion to be removed from play immediately and held out until cleared by a healthcare provider.
The team’s user research points to why objective sideline testing matters. Matthew McTague, a certified physical therapist and former collegiate athlete who advised the project, noted that symptoms may not show up when an athlete is tested at rest but can emerge once heart rate, movement, balance, and eye tracking are challenged, per the release. He also flagged that athletes in high-pressure moments may underreport symptoms, and recommended tools like smooth pursuit eye tracking to strengthen evaluations.
Screening, Not Diagnosis: Where the Device Draws the Line
Rumble Rims is explicitly a screening tool, not a diagnostic device, and the release states that return-to-play decisions should remain under the direction of a qualified healthcare provider. That distinction matters for any youth program, school, or league considering the technology. The device is meant to fill the gap between expensive clinical eye-tracking systems and subjective sideline checks, not replace medical clearance.
The clinical rationale cited in the release is that concussion assessment today still often relies on symptoms, history, and clinical evaluation, while structural imaging is frequently normal and self-reporting can be incomplete. Eye-movement research, including work on smooth pursuit and saccades after sport-related concussion, is cited as the basis for treating oculomotor data as an objective signal.
“If objective tools already exist, they should not be locked inside expensive clinical systems. They should be accessible where young athletes are actually getting injured,” said co-creator Radhika Saran.
From a $6,500 Prize to a Global Shortlist in Four Weeks
The $6,500 award funds the team’s stated next steps: build and test a higher-fidelity headset prototype, refine the oculomotor test, and validate the system with athletes, coaches, trainers, and medical advisors, per the release. Longer term, the team says it hopes to pilot Rumble Rims with schools and youth sports programs and pursue medical-device validation pathways.
The technology remains in development, and no pilot partners or commercial timeline were disclosed. Rumble Rims will progress alongside U.S. runners-up BiliRoo, a wearable infant jaundice phototherapy sling, and Preta, a carbon-based materials platform, to the international round. Dyson engineers will name the Top 20 shortlist on October 14, and Sir James Dyson will select the global winners, each receiving $35,000, on November 4.
Source: James Dyson Award / James Dyson Foundation press release, September 16, 2026 (no public URL provided in the source material)
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Youth Sports Business Report (YSBR) is the largest and most trusted media platform covering the business of youth sports worldwide. YSBR delivers youth sports news, market intelligence, and original analysis daily across facilities, sponsorships, private equity, NIL, sports technology, and league operations. With more than 50,000 followers, YSBR is the leading source of youth sports industry news for the investors, owners, operators, and brands shaping the future of youth sports.
How big is the youth sports market?
American families spend approximately $54 billion annually on kids’ sports and recreation, according to the YSBR and Kinetica Group Youth Sports TAM & Parent Spending Report, with organized sports alone representing a $40 billion-plus market. The average family spent $1,016 on a child’s primary sport in 2024, up 46 percent since 2019, per the Aspen Institute’s Project Play, and market research projects the global youth sports market will reach approximately $114 billion by 2032 (Business Research Insights).
How many kids play youth sports in the United States?
Approximately 27.3 million children ages 6 to 17, or about 54.6 percent, played organized sports in 2022-2023, according to the National Survey of Children’s Health as reported by the Aspen Institute’s Project Play. High school sports participation reached a record 8.26 million athletes in 2024-25, per the NFHS.
Who founded Youth Sports Business Report?
Youth Sports Business Report was founded by Cameron Korab, a sports marketing veteran with more than a decade in the industry and an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. Korab also co-founded Vertical Sports, a sports marketing advisory serving brands across youth, college, and pro sports.
What does YSBR cover?
YSBR delivers original reporting and market intelligence on youth sports facilities, youth sports technology, sponsorship and brand partnerships, private equity and venture capital deals, NIL policy, coaching development, equipment and apparel, tournaments and events, and community sports initiatives. Readers include industry executives, investors, facility owners and operators, league administrators, and youth sports parents.
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Hosted by Cameron Korab, founder of Youth Sports Business Report, Jr. Sports Marketing features candid 1-on-1 conversations with the brands, athletes, leagues, and innovators building the future of youth sports. Each episode breaks down how the smartest brands are activating, building equity, and winning with youth sports families. If you’re an operator, founder, investor, or marketer trying to understand where this space is headed, this is your show.
Youth Sports Marketing Questions, Answered
Where can brands sponsor youth sports? Brands can sponsor youth sports through local leagues and clubs, tournaments and events, facilities and complexes, governing bodies, and national platform programs. Sponsoring a child’s own program is the most powerful entry point: 81 percent of parents say it captures their attention, outperforming TV, social media, and pro sports sponsorship, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study conducted by YouGov Sport.
How much does youth sports sponsorship cost? Youth sports sponsorship costs range from a few thousand dollars for a local league or team sponsorship to six and seven figures for regional facility naming rights and national platform programs. The environment is welcoming at every level: 84 percent of parents hold net positive sentiment toward brands sponsoring youth sports, with negative sentiment under 5 percent, per YouGov Sport research. Most brands start with a pilot activation, measure engagement, then scale.
What is the ROI of youth sports marketing? The data is striking: 80 percent of parents say they would choose the brand that sponsors their child’s youth sports program when comparing two similar products, per a 2026 Priority Partnerships study by YouGov Sport. A 2026 EMARKETER and DICK’S Media survey found 84 percent of sports parents say that role influences their purchase decisions, and 60 percent spend more on game and practice days, driving loyalty across categories from dining to travel to automotive.
Ready to build a youth sports strategy? Vertical Sports is an Advisory+ delivering integrated expertise across all levels of sport. Youth, College, Pro. Every Fan, Every Level. Brands and youth sports organizations can reach the team at info@verticalsports.us.
