We all want to protect our kids from childhood injuries, and street hockey equipment is a necessary part of sports safety.

Street hockey started about 40 years ago when kids began playing hockey outside on the pavement with roller skates instead of ice skates.

Today the game is played in basketball courts, blacktop rinks, tennis courts, playgrounds and yes, even streets. The roller skates of years ago have evolved into roller blades but the game is still the same. Kids play with hockey sticks to gain goals against the other team.

Street hockey has become a team sport of note, with tournaments played across the world.

Proper Street Hockey Equipment Prevents Injuries

As with regular ice hockey, street hockey injuries can happen.

The proper street hockey equipment can make all the difference when players meet hard. Everyone is familiar with the injuries common to ice hockey, and the same are possible with hockey played on roller blades.

Lost teeth, split lips, broken arms and legs, and even head injuries can be something your youngster may come home with. It’s a very good idea to send your kids out with the proper gear in order to minimize, or even avoid, potential harm.

What is necessary street hockey equipment?

Street Hockey Equipment Must Include Head Protection

Just like ice hockey, street hockey play requires head protection. Helmets protect eyes, mouth and teeth, nose and head.

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Both street and ice hockey use sticks to move the puck toward the goal, and these sticks can be dangerous, especially in the heat of play.

Kids are competitive, and they want to win. Sticks can be swung wildly and hard, and sometimes someone’s head may just be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Head injuries from hockey can include serious things like concussion.

All players, and particularly goalies, must have head protection in order to prevent serious injury.

Street Hockey Equipment Includes Lots of Padding!

This will include other protective gear like pads, gloves and guards. Hockey pants, girdles and jerseys are available with padding form-fitted inside the garment to protect the player against injury from falls or hits.

This type of padded uniform is important because when a player falls on the pavement, blacktop surfaces can produce scrapes and gashes that can be very painful.

Choose a Street Hockey Wheel, Puck or Ball

Other gear essential to playing street hockey are the hockey sticks, goals and nets, inline skates, and hockey wheel (an alternative street hockey version of the ice hockey “puck”) or puck. Either a hockey wheel or puck may be used for street hockey, as desired.

In addition, the Mylec company has developed a street hockey ball that has been designed to be used depending upon current weather conditions. This means that if your kids are playing street hockey in cool weather, Mylec has a specific hockey ball designed for 50 degrees, with other balls designed for warmer and cooler temperatures.

There are “quad” skates available as well, which are skates like you might use at your local roller skating rink. These skates have 2 wheels front and back instead of the more common inline skate, which has 4 wheels mounted in a straight line.

Street Hockey Equipment for Goalies

The goalie needs especially protective equipment because he is vulnerable to flying wheels or pucks as well as sticks. There are goalie packages available from several retailers that include all needed apparatus.

These packages will include special helmet/mask combinations that protect the goalie’s face from flying hockey wheels as well as much thicker protective padding on legs, chest and shoulders.

Brand names of street hockey equipment include Mylec, Franklin, Vic, Tour and Koho.

Street Hockey Gets Kids Outside, Keeps Them Healthy and Happy

Street hockey is an excellent way for kids to develop confidence and self esteem as well as team spirit.

Exercise is beneficial for healthy and happy kids, and the proper street hockey equipment can make sure they stay safe in addition to having fun.

Modern games require plenty of equipments. Tennis needs equipments like tennis post, net reel, tennis net, steel strap anchor, center hold down strap, in-ground socket tube, etc. Similarly, basketball needs equipments like foul poles, batting cages and pitching screens. Even a park would need equipments like benches, swing sets, funnel ball, playground slides and climbers, merry go rounds, spring riders, sandboxes, seesaws, etc. Most people residing in metros take their children to neighborhood parks for recreation. Modern games cannot just be played with their set of equipments.

The benefits of playing outdoors reflect on the children’s health statistics. Children who play outdoors are energetic, flamboyant and have more social skills. Children who tend to stay behind the doors become couch potatoes, keep glued to the computer or games console and are unable to do as well socially. News related to childhood obesity and diabetes is published in the newspapers daily, ringing alarm bells for health conscious parents. The solution is to ensure that children have proper opportunities to play along with their studies. Sports fitness equipment encourages children to exert themselves, gather strength and improve their balance and flexibility. All of these attributes have lifetime benefits in improved health and fitness. Outdoor fitness equipments challenge children physically and help improve their health levels.

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Provide the children with adventure equipment to scramble over, under, through and round. School playgrounds and parks can be equipped with large versions of the multi-faceted climbing frames. Cold and painted tubular steel frames over concrete have become things of the past. Play equipment that is now available is made from warming wood that blends in with the surroundings. Children can have recreation activities on scramble nets, slides, tubes and tunnels, complement swings and rope bridges. The little ones have so many options to choose from, which would ensure that they have a delightful time with their friends.

In our days, children often got hurt while playing. Their arm would get stuck under a roundabout. They would suffer painfully when they fell down from climbing frames onto the underlying concrete. Such safety issues have now been fully addressed. Today’s frames of fun won’t even trap a finger as these frames have been designed by specialists who know what children actually need. They have put in their years of experience for designing these frames, ensuring that the children get the perfect equipment to recreate.

Kids play equipments have guidelines regarding the height, width as well as distance from the ground. Whatever equipment you buy should follow these standards. You must ensure that the supplier has complied with these guidelines, which ensure safety for children. You can see details regarding these standards online. These standards would also help you understand what are the basic requirements for good quality playground equipments.

Standards of playground equipment have improved over the years. Quality equipment ensures that children can play without injuring themselves.

The author is associated with AAA State of Play who offers state-of-the-art-equipment for play structures.

For basketball goals with a pole, purchase pole padding. Pole padding is a simple foam padding with a vinyl cover. The padding can be wrapped around the pole and closed with the attached velcro strip. Most padding fits poles up to 66″ tall, but check your pole height to get the right fit. Typically padding is 1 ½” thick.

Padded poles protect kids from injury. It is easy to run into the pole when playing a game or chasing the ball. Injuries from colliding with a pole that isn’t padded can range from bumps and bruises to concussions or broken bones. Adding pole padding can greatly reduce the chance of these types of injuries.

In addition to padding the pole on your basketball goal, you can also add a gusset pad. These pads are pyramid shaped and cover the base plates and bolts on an adjustable crank system. Gusset pads will help prevent foot injuries that can occur when players bump into the base plates. It will also protect players from being scratched or injured on any bolts.

Another item that you can add to your basketball system to help kids be safe is a ball retention net. This net attaches to the back of your system and stretches to the ground. When baskets are made or attempted, the balls retract off of the net and can roll back towards the player. This is a great way to prevent kids from running into the street or other people’s yards after the ball. Adding something as simple as this gives kids a visual boundary.

For teenagers who are ready to start attempting slam dunks, the type of net you have on your basketball goal becomes a safety issue. Make sure you get an anti-whip net. Anti-whip nets are made of a specific type of nylon that won’t tangle around hands or fingers. This helps protect player’s hands from injuries that may occur when going in for a slam dunk.

Another safety issue for teenagers is the type of rim that you have. A flex rim gives when pressure is put on it. This spring loaded resistance protects both the player and the backboard. For teens who will be making more contact with the rim, a flex rim assures that the pressure they apply can be handled.

Teaching basketball to kids and teens is a fun and exciting experience, but safety is of the utmost importance. Keep kids and teens safe by adding some of this equipment to your basketball goal.