At the same time, Guardian’s consumer business is accelerating. The company recently achieved more than 40% growth in retail revenue and more than 100% growth on Amazon as more consumers discover Guardian products outside of traditional team sales.

Adding Santore to the leadership team represents Guardian’s next investment in building a broader consumer brand around a mission that has guided the company since its founding: better protecting athletes at every level of play.

During her 14 years at The Coca-Cola Company, Santore held leadership roles across some of the company’s most recognized brands and global marketing platforms.

Her experience includes helping lead marketing initiatives connected to the Olympic Games and FIFA World Cup and contributing to the global Share a Coke campaign. Most recently, she served as Senior Director of smartwater, where she helped expand the brand’s reach, gain more than a point of dollar share and drive double-digit growth for smartwater alkaline with antioxidant.

At Guardian Sports, Santore will lead brand strategy and architecture, integrated marketing, partnerships and commercial growth initiatives across the company’s expanding portfolio.

“We’ve spent years earning trust at the highest levels of sport. The opportunity now is helping more athletes and families understand who we are and what we stand for,” said Jake Hanson, Chief Operating Officer of Guardian Sports. “Kate has spent her career building brands people trust, and we’re excited to bring that expertise to Guardian.”

While Guardian Sports is best known for the Guardian Cap, the company has steadily expanded its focus across new products, sports and categories.

Football

The Guardian Cap remains the company’s flagship impact-reduction product and is entering its fifth consecutive NFL-mandated season for contact practices. Guardian Caps are also used by 95% of Power 4 football programs.

Guardian is continuing to expand its football portfolio beyond the Cap. The Guardian SoftShox™ Chinstrap brings Guardian’s focus on impact reduction to another area of football equipment – facemask hits.

Lacrosse

Guardian’s PEARL® lacrosse ball portfolio has become a significant part of the company’s growth.

PEARL X Optic Yellow™ is used in competition across some of the sport’s biggest stages, including the NCAA Lacrosse Championships, Premier Lacrosse League, Women’s Lacrosse League and World Lacrosse.

Flag Football

As flag football participation grows in the United States and internationally, Guardian is expanding its presence in the sport through the Guardian LOOP™.

Designed specifically for flag football athletes, LOOP is a low-profile impact-reduction headband independently rated 5-STAR by the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab.

Sports Surfaces

Guardian’s approach to athlete protection is also extending beyond wearable equipment.

Through Guardian Infill and AstroPad, the company is developing sports-surface technologies designed to improve the environments athletes play on, creating another long-term growth category for the business.

For Santore, joining Guardian represents an opportunity to apply decades of consumer brand-building experience to a company focused on solving meaningful challenges in sports.

“Leaving Coca-Cola after 14 years wasn’t an easy decision, but the opportunity to help more athletes and families tackle one of the most important issues in sports today was incredibly compelling,” said Santore. “Guardian has earned the trust of the NFL and collegiate programs across the country. The opportunity now is helping more athletes, coaches and families learn about products designed to support safer participation.”

Guardian Sports was founded in 2010 by Erin and Lee Hanson with a simple goal: develop products that could help better protect athletes.

More than 16 years later, that mission remains at the center of the company as Guardian expands into new sports, products and markets.

“When Lee and I founded Guardian Sports, our goal was simple: create products that help better protect athletes,” said Erin Hanson, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Guardian Sports. “While the company has grown far beyond what we imagined, our mission remains the same. Kate’s experience building iconic brands will help us share that mission with more athletes and families as we continue to grow.”

With Santore joining the leadership team, Guardian Sports is investing in the next phase of that growth—combining the product innovation and credibility the company has built within sports with the consumer brand-building experience needed to introduce Guardian to its next generation of athletes and families.

Founded in 2010, Guardian Sports is on a mission to better protect athletes at every level of play. Its flagship product, the Guardian Cap, was originally developed to reduce head impacts during football practice and has since expanded into game-day use across multiple levels of competition.

Guardian Sports’ growing portfolio includes the Guardian Cap, Guardian LOOP flag football headband, PEARL lacrosse balls, Guardian SoftShox Chinstrap, Guardian Infill and AstroPad sports-surface technologies.

Guardian products are trusted by athletes across professional, collegiate, high school and youth sports and are available through a growing network of retail and team-sports partners.

No helmet, headgear or chinstrap can prevent or eliminate the risk of concussions or other serious head injuries while playing sports. The NFL’s conclusions regarding Guardian Cap use are based on qualified studies evaluating Guardian Cap NXT alongside additional protective measures.