The first protective helmets for children arrive at the Museu Casteller de Valls

BarcelonaOn May 8, 2005, the Castellers de Sants surprised the human tower community by adding a taekwondo helmet for the lifter and the enxaneta of the 4 of 8. This was the first time that children in a human tower group wore helmets as a protective element. This Saturday, 20 years later, the Borinots presented the original helmets to the Museu Casteller de Catalunya in Valls.

The Sants residents took the step of incorporating helmets after two hard falls by the children in 2000 and 2004 and an internal reflection process lasting almost a year. The innovation generated a great deal of debate within the human tower community, with many opposing opinions. Both leaders from the groups and anonymous users on internet forums largely expressed their opposition to the use of helmets.

The decision, however, was intended to encourage compliance with the agreement reached by the board of the Coordinator of Human Towers of Catalonia (CCCC) the previous year to initiate a study on the helmet. Under the direction of Dr. Jaume Rosset and with the support of the president of the Coordinator, Eusebi Campdepadrós, the situation was resolved.

In collaboration with the head of research at the High Performance Center, Josep Escoda, contact was made with the helmet manufacturer NZI. Progress was rapid, and in July 2006, the enxaneta and lifter helmets began to be distributed to the sixteen groups that had volunteered to test them.

The turning point

Unfortunately, the consensus among the human tower community came that same summer, after the death of Mariona Galindo, the tower builder of the Capgrososs de Mataró, due to a fall. After that, the helmet was introduced to all the groups. Its use began in 2009. Once its usefulness was proven, it was declared mandatory by the Coordinating Assembly in 2012.

The project process was documented by Enric Rovira, the doctor and human tower builder of the Joven Niños de Tarragona (Youth Children's Association of Tarragona), who coordinated the studies for 2011 and 2012. All this material, which includes paper documents such as informed consent forms and surveys to measure the condition and adaptability of the helmet, has also been donated to the museum, along with a first prototype of a two-piece helmet and some helmets with impacts.

The Museum has also recently launched the immersive Enxaneta 360 experience. Using virtual reality headsets, visitors can relive the historic day of Santa Úrsula in 2023, when the castles of the extra range were placed at various points in Plaça del Blat. The images offer a complete visual and audio experience that allows visitors to relive the castles as if they were there. in situ at four different points: the end of the square, in front of the pineapple, on the balcony of the Town Hall, and on the rooftop.

For next year, the Valls City Council also plans to expand the experience with an immersive pineapple that will allow for sensations of pressure, smell, and touch.