Follow Hockey Safety Tips Like These and Avoid Major Injuries

Before your kids hit the ice for the wonderful winter sport of hockey, it's wise to brush up on a few safety tips. Children and adults alike are injured playing hockey each year. While there are many possible reasons for injuries it is safe to say that many are the direct result of inadequate attention to safety precautions. When parents get involved in the process of ensuring safety, education, and prevention, many of these injuries can be avoided. Just remember that you'll never be able to remove all risk of injury from hockey; it is a rough sport after all. But there is no reason not to make every effort to ensure better safety principles on the ice. This article offers practical safety advice to ensure your hockey season is as safe as it can be.

There are important safety considerations with hockey skates, and they come down to just a few common sense type points. Be sure your hockey skates fit properly and well. Injuries to the foot can occur from wearing skates that are too small. Focusing on the pain of ill-fitting skates will also take attention away from action on the ice. Players who are distracted are at a great risk for injury. Your skates should provide you with sufficient ankle support. Skates that do not provide additional protection, in the form of a protective cup, for the toes should not be purchased for hockey. It's also important to take good care of the skates to keep them in top condition. Part of this is keeping skate blades sharp. Always use hockey equipment that is certified by a recognized entity, or organization. No matter what the sport may be, the use of high quality sports equipment is very important. Among those reasons concerns safety, and it is true that a defective piece of equipment of low quality can lead to injury. The Hockey Equipment Certification Council also known as HECC is a good start. The American Society for Testing and Materials, or the ASTM is a good choice as well. Canada has the Canadian Standards Association (CSA). You should look for these labels on all hockey equipment you buy.

All ages in all leagues below professional level hockey are required to wear face masks. These are worn as permanent attachments to the hockey helmets. Helmets with face masks are important for all levels of play, even pickup matches played on open ice. Obviously the face mask protects the facial area from injury due to flying stick blades and hockey pucks. Some players complain that helmets reduce vision or the field of vision. However, they are required in the junior leagues and certainly leagues for younger kids. Taking safety seriously is important for players of all ages and skill levels in all sports. Younger players though often need a little additional protection by wearing adequate safety equipment. You must stay involved if you have a child playing youth hockey. Take the time to learn about potential injuries that can occur and how to best prevent them.