The gold “LookUp” stripe warns ice hockey players they are near the boards — and Upland Country Day School is among the first in the Delaware Valley to install such a safety feature to its ice rink.
Historical references for similar visual cueing warning lines in baseball and football were researched to bolster the case for the safety line in hockey. This high-speed sport with unforgiving hard surfaces was at the top of the list for head injuries and the need for precautionary measures of this kind was logical.
“Upland is literally the only school in the area to have a ‘Look-Up Line’,” said Peter Schluter, Upland’s Director of Athletics. “It is the beginning of a nationwide push and we are at the forefront of the initiative. It’s a simple safety mechanism that doesn’t affect the speed of the game or add any new rules.”
The line isn’t just to make the players with the puck aware of the boards, but also for those who may be coming in to deliver a hit.
The next closest rink with the Look-Up Line is in Bucks County where the Philadelphia Revolution of the Eastern Hockey League plays. All told, more than 250 rinks in 27 states are expected to install the new safety measure this year. The states in New England are leading the U.S. charge, with Canadian and Swedish rinks expected to follow suit.
As of now, the safety line is not mandated by USA Hockey, hockey’s governing body, but its board of directors has asked facilities to report observations back to them after the trial phase.
