Pine Crest Social Entrepreneurship Team Earns $5,000 in Seed Funding at Pitch Competition

Four Pine Crest juniors have turned their concern for female athlete safety into a groundbreaking innovation—and serious recognition from the entrepreneurship world.

The student team behind DETECHT, a revolutionary head health safety headband designed specifically for female athletes, recently earned $5,000 in seed funding at the City of Hollywood Chamber of Commerce SPARK Pitch Competition. What makes this achievement even more remarkable? They were the only high school team competing against seasoned adult entrepreneurs and well-funded startups.

"The team impressed and captured the attention of a panel of accomplished judges and industry leaders with their innovative solution," said Mrs. Keri Kolettis, Pine Crest Vice President of Global Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Science Curriculum Academic Advisor. "It's extraordinary to see high school students not just compete but excel at this level."

A Track Record of Excellence

The SPARK funding represents just the latest achievement for juniors Rodney Henry ’26, Aubrey Goldberg ’26, Sydney Silverstein ’26 and Blake Van Tassel ’26. Their impressive resume includes:

• Global Champions in the high school division of the MIT Entrepreneurship Club Global Competition, selected from over 500 teams across 40 countries
• Second runner-up in both the North American and U.S. categories of the same competition
• Top 13 finalist in the Diamond Challenge Southeast region, advancing to Pitch Day at the Masters School in New York

Addressing an Overlooked Crisis

The inspiration for DETECHT stems from a sobering reality: 3.42 million female high school athletes face heightened risks of traumatic brain injuries and repeated subconcussive impacts, yet they remain significantly underserved by existing head health safety protocols.

The team's solution is DETECHT, a sophisticated headband that monitors g-force spikes to detect potential concussions, subconcussive impacts and microtrauma. The device's intelligence lies in its personalization—during its first five hours of use, DETECHT establishes a unique baseline by tracking each athlete's typical linear and rotational acceleration patterns using an integrated gyroscope and accelerometer.

Once calibrated, the headband continuously monitors for anomalies. When g-force spikes exceed an athlete's baseline, the system signals potential head trauma and prompts further medical evaluation.

Innovation That Adapts

What truly sets DETECHT apart is its versatility and precision. While most head trauma monitoring devices are limited to sports requiring helmets, DETECHT adapts to the full spectrum of female athletics, from soccer and basketball to gymnastics and field hockey. Its customizable baseline technology ensures that each athlete receives monitoring tailored to their specific movement patterns, delivering more accurate and individualized injury detection than one-size-fits-all alternatives.

This combination of cutting-edge technology, practical application and genuine concern for athlete welfare has not only earned DETECHT recognition and funding but also positioned these four Pine Crest students as emerging leaders in sports safety innovation.