SYZMIK Launches X7c+, the FIT Award Winner Built for Flag Footballs Olympic Era

FIT Sports Design Award winner and Core77 Runner Up, the X7c+ brings Carbon 3D-printed lattice technology to the next generation of flag football protection.

BALTIMORE, MD, UNITED STATES, August 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- SYZMIK Sports today announced the launch of the X7c+ Protective Headband, arriving as flag football prepares to debut on the Olympic stage and the NFL Pro League elevates the sport to a new competitive tier.

The X7c+ is SYZMIK's answer to a clear need: as the athletes get better and the stakes get higher, the protection has to keep up. Built in partnership with Carbon, a leading digital manufacturing platform, the headband carries forward the same low-profile silhouette and aesthetic that elite athletes already trust, while replacing the interior padding entirely with the world's first 3D-printed lattice impact system deployed in a soft-shell headband.

The X7c+ was awarded the FIT Design Award in Sport Equipment Design / Innovation and Runner-Up honors in the Sports & Outdoors category at the 2026 Core77 Design Awards.

The Sport Has Evolved. The Protection Had To As Well.

Flag football is no longer a recreational alternative. With the NFL backing a professional league, Olympic inclusion on the horizon, and the world's best athletes competing at an international level, the sport has entered a new era. The physicality, speed, and intensity of the game at the highest levels demand equipment built for that environment.

SYZMIK invested in solving that problem from the inside out. The X7c+ looks like the headband athletes know and trust: low-profile, lightweight, and designed to perform without getting in the way. What changed is what is underneath. The traditional foam padding that defines the category has been replaced by a computationally engineered 3D-printed lattice system, tuned to deliver zoned, directional impact attenuation that foam cannot match. Controlled deformation. Efficient energy dispersal. Superior airflow. Built for the level the sport is now playing at.

Same Winning Look. Upgraded Protection Inside.

SYZMIK made a deliberate choice: do not change the visual identity that athletes and fans already associate with elite flag football performance. The X7c+ maintains the clean, athletic silhouette of its predecessors. The Vapor Black colorway, slightly translucent, is the only hint that something different is happening underneath. Through the shell, the internal 3D-printed lattice is visible, a subtle signal to anyone who looks closely that this is not the same product.

The shell itself is also engineered beyond category standards. Injection-molded flexible polymer segments are ultrasonically welded together with zero stitching and zero sewn seams. High-stretch performance textiles are bonded directly to the shell. Precision-cut "L" extension apertures in the Lycra substrate provide multidirectional stretch that adapts with head movement in real time. The result is a headband that weighs just 80 to 95 grams and fits more securely than anything built on dated, antiquated stitch-and-sew construction.

"The X7c+ represents a fundamental rethinking of what a protective headband can be. By replacing legacy stitched foam with engineered 3D-printed lattices inside a seamless, injection-molded shell, we've built something that protects better, fits better, and performs better, without compromise," said Christopher Perra, chief operating officer of SYZMIK Sports. "Winning the FIT Design Award validates what we set out to prove: that innovation in athlete protection doesn't have to sacrifice style or comfort."

Worn at the Worlds. Trusted by the Best.

The X7c+ was worn by world-class flag football athletes, including athletes like Ashlea Klam, at the flag football World Championships in August 2026. Elite flag football players choose SYZMIK even when headgear is optional. That is not a coincidence. It is the result of years of building equipment that performs at the level these athletes compete at, and a product designed specifically for where the sport is going.

As flag football moves toward the Olympics and the NFL Pro League grows its footprint, SYZMIK is building the gear the sport's best players will wear on the world's biggest stages.

About SYZMIK Sports
SYZMIK Sports is a sports technology company based in Baltimore, USA. Since winning the NFL Head Health Tech Challenge in 2018 for new helmet technology, SYZMIK has been focused on advancing head impact research and designing specialized soft-shell protective headgear for Flag Football, 7v7 and soccer. SYZMIK’s revolutionary X-Series soft-shell protective headgear is trusted by tens of thousands of athletes around the world.

Victoria Shupryt
SYZMIK Sports
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