Founder's Story

Aaron Lucas didn't start Cloud Athletic to enter the protective equipment industry. He started it because he'd already spent fourteen years inside it — and knew it could be better.

Aaron Lucas, Founder and CEO of Cloud Athletic

In January 2013 he became employee number one at Defend Your Head, building over-the-helmet protection in the same category Guardian Caps would later make famous, and taking responsibility for design refinements to the ProTech.

He was employee number one again at Game Day Skinz, where he grew the business past $3.5 million in two years and built a base of more than 1,100 team accounts. There he helped develop the world's first reusable helmet finish — patent protected — and helped design the one-piece Game Day Skinz still on helmets today.

For the last seven years, through Atlanta Athletics, he's manufactured and distributed soft-shell helmets to programs from youth leagues to college teams.

Game Day Skinz is what motivated him to start Cloud Athletic and do it the right way — from the ground up, with nothing inherited and nothing compromised.

Before any of it, he was an athlete: a two-way All-State player at Westside High School in Anderson, South Carolina, and a four-year starter at Western Carolina University. He's also a father, a coach, and a mentor. He knows what it feels like to line up in gear you're aware of — and what that awareness costs you.

“I build the highest-rated headgear in the world because I spent fourteen years learning how.”

Aaron Lucas, Founder & CEO

The philosophy

What athletes wear shapes how they compete. If they're thinking about their equipment, it's getting in the way.

Cloud products are engineered to feel so natural that athletes forget they're wearing them — light enough to disappear, rated high enough to trust.

For too long the category settled for outdated technology, tired design, and products with no personality. Aaron refused to accept “good enough.”

The result

On July 4, 2026, Aaron launched Cloud Athletic, the #ONEBRAIN Campaign, and the POET Program — Purchase One. Equip Two. — which puts a second set of headgear on an athlete who couldn't otherwise afford it.

The first products: the 4.3-ounce CLOUD Halo and the 2.3-ounce CLOUD Halo Lite, rated No. 1 and No. 3 in the Virginia Tech Helmet Lab's flag football headgear rankings.

They're built for flag football and 7v7 — and for soccer, rugby, field hockey, women's lacrosse, pickleball, and every athlete who wants to be equipped without being slowed down.

Cloud Athletic is an American company headquartered in Atlanta, building for the next generation of athletes: lighter, smarter, more comfortable, and with personality.

#ONEBRAIN Campaign

We moved the standard from good enough to number one in the world. We'd encourage the rest of the category to catch up — there are far more athletes to protect than any one company can reach alone.

Protect the athlete.

No protective equipment can prevent all injuries, including concussions. Virginia Tech Helmet Lab ratings measure impact performance in controlled laboratory testing. CLOUD Athletic is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Virginia Tech.