1. The The National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) is pleased to
introduce wrestling technology company, BATS-TOI, and their new headgear, The
Mercado™.
The NHSCA recognizes BATS-TOI’s commitment to the safety of wrestlers with its
innovative award-winning headgear. The Mercado™ was designed over a four-
year period of research in collaboration with the NYU Tandon School of
Engineering and the Columbia University School of Engineering and Applied
Science. It won a national technology competition sponsored by NYU for its
design in protecting wrestlers against head and facial injuries. An international
team of renowned mechanical and biomedical engineers, industrial product
designers who specialize in impact foam polymers, athlete-related head trauma
and brain injury, and technical sports equipment, was assembled to create this
advanced protective head product.
BATS-TOI will be present at upcoming NHSCA Championship events, High School
Nationals and the National Duals, and will give a discount on The Mercado™ for
one year to all NHSCA members, as well as donate a portion of its proceeds to
sports-related head injury brain research (www.batstoi.com).
“While no headgear or helmet in any sport can claim to protect against
concussion”, says BATS-TOI founder and CEO, Mario Mercado, “it was our mission
to assemble a top-tier team to re-engineer the headgear and design a product
that would truly address the needs of wrestlers in every aspect: stability, fit,
form, function, and protection. With The Mercado™, we have done exactly that.”