Equipment Needed
What Equipment Do You Need? Let's Gear Up!
To help each skater (and their family) feel confident for the first day of hockey, we have created the below equipment guide.
Many new hockey players often feel uncomfortable the first few times they wear or use their equipment or think the equipment doesn't fit properly. Please know this is normal as most of the time, the player just needs more time to adjust.
Required Hockey Gear
WAHA Programs require all players to have:
- Hockey Skates
- Hockey Helmet with Full Face Guard
- Hockey Gloves
- Hockey Stick
- Elbow Pads
- Hockey Pants
- Shin Pads
- Shoulder Pads
- Neck Guard
- Jersey/Socks
Optional Hockey Gear
- Hockey Bag
- Base layers
- Supporter/Cup (Jock/Jill) (most come with Velcro straps to attach to socks)
- Skate Guards/Soakers
- Water bottle (long straw to fit through face guard or squeeze type of bottle)
- Sock Tape (Clear & flexible that allows your player to move without breaking)
- Hockey Tape (Watch YouTube videos on how-to tape a hockey knob or stick blade)
Dressing Your Player
Gear Care
Drying Your Gear
After every practice and game, we recommend you take your gear out of your bag to air dry. Jerseys and socks should be washed to prevent odor and bacteria, and staining from sweat. You can put every piece of equipment in the wash except for your skates and helmet.
The pads can be sprayed with odor disinfectant (like OdoBan of CaptOdor) to help combat odor and bacteria growth or put on a gear drying rack. Remove your player's gear from the bag after skating and use 1-2 sprays on each piece of gear. Make sure to spray inside gloves and skates and on the interior of shin guards and shoulder pads. Then, simply let the gear air-dry. This will help to neutralize, destroy, and deodorize any odors so they are ready for their next skate.
A gear drying rack is also helpful to keep gear organized while it dries. Some are lightweight, portable, compact, and take under 30 seconds to set up! Look for them on Amazon or Pure Hockey.
Skate Care
Always dry off the blades after every practice with a dry cloth before putting on skate guards or back into your bag. At home, remove the guards and store skates upside down (blade up) in a cool/dry place to help dry completely. Keeping your blades & skates dry helps prevent them to rust.
Make sure to check every few months to see if your skates are still fitting properly. Players feet grow at different rates and many times a child won't tell you that their feet hurt. Pull the inner liner out of the skate and have your player stand on the liner. If their toes are past the liner, they have outgrown their skates.
How Often to Sharpen Skates
Skates need to be sharpened regularly.
First time your blades get sharpened will be when you buy them new from the store. If you get used skates, get them sharpened before you use them.
If there are any dings or if the blade is at all uneven, they need to get re-sharpened.
Warning, the edge can be sharp. Be gentle and careful as you run your skate across anything like your fingers or objects!
To check your edge, they should be even without any dings or divots as you rub a finger across the edge. There should be some drag against your finger. When that feeling is gone, the skates need another sharpening. Also if you see your player slipping and falling when turning or stopping, this is a good sign that it's time to sharpen.
Usually skates need to be sharpened after 6-10 hours of skating. The Weinstein Beverage Rink has a Sparx to sharpen your skates (there is a cost) or ask your coach, we have people trained on our WAHA Skate Sharpener who can help.
Looking for Gear?
Our new partnership with Pure Hockey gives your hockey player access to exclusive deals on equipment and gear in our online team stores, which are accessible throughout the season. You can also visit www.purehockey.com or one of their retail stores all year to get what you need.
Annual Hockey Gear Swap
Our gear swap is the best place to get your hands on gently used gear from other hockey families. You can also sell the gear your player has grown out of. It's a great event and this year, it will be part of our big season kickoff event. Stay tuned for more details.