Fitting Youth Football Equipment

At Trophy House and Jones Sports we have been fitting local youth with football equipment for almost 50 years. One of our favorite times of year is late summer when the schools are gearing up for the football season. Our team of seasoned equipment and uniform reps are busy heading out to local school districts including Spring Lake, Reeths Puffer, Mona Shores, Whitehall and more. Our team brings equipment on site to the school swap meets where families can utilize the expertise of our team to ensure their player is outfitted in quality equipment with the proper fit. We help to keep players safe.

The swap meets trigger a flow of in-store traffic who comes to the store to shop, try on pads, pants and helmets and browse our gear. We have been doing this so long a proper equipment fit is it is second nature to us. But, we realize that when you are new to a sport or your child grows and it’s again time for new equipment it would be helpful if you knew what to look for when buying new equipment. So, we thought it would be helpful to share a couple key tips for proper a proper fit.

With Spring Lake and other local schools teaching new methods for tackling to promote safety, the shoulder pads are even more so a key contact point. They are teaching Hawk Tackling. According to stack.com, the major points of “Hawk” tackling include tracking the near the hip, maintaining leverage, hitting the thighs of the ballcarrier with the leverage shoulder, wrapping up and driving for five steps if necessary. So, they are using their shoulders to take the impact and reducing the impact on the head. The two key equipment pieces that require fitting are pads and helmets.

Shoulder Pads

To properly fit shoulder pads you need to ensure that…

1. You are within the weight limit for the pads as recommended. Usually the size and weight range applicable for the pads is listed on the front of the pads.
2. You also want to be sure that when you lift up the shoulder cap that the pad underneath extends past the shoulder.
3. Finally, it is important that when the pads are latched and cinched to wear that there isn’t a lot of movement around the neck area.

Helmet

To properly fit a helmet you need to ensure that…

1. It goes on easy enough but, fits snug. “Easy” is a bit subjective since some kids, especially those who have never worn a helmet, may think the fit is too snug.
2. Check that the fit is appropriately snug by attaching the chin strap to the helmet and having the player look side to side and up. While they are looking, you can see that the jaw pads are still right up against the cheek on the sides and at the top the helmet does not come down to the bridge of the nose.
3. Once the chin straps are set they should be set to attach and unattach at the bottom leaving the top always latched.

In addition to helmets and pads players also typically gear up with a mouth guard, additional padded under clothing, practice jerseys, cleats, kick plate and football pants. Some players also use football gloves and eye black. To check out one 2019 in stock products shop here and or stop in!