Weston Brothers

All the field players must have a jersey, shorts, and stockings that match those of their teammates and contrast with those of their opponents, except for the goalkeeper, whose colors must distinguish him from all of the other players and from the game officials. Shin guards, covered by socks, must be worn. No player is permitted to use equipment or wear any item that is judged to create a danger to himself and/or others (including, for example, hard casts and jewelry). The basic compulsory equipment of a player is:

a jersey or shirt (provided by league)

shorts (provided by league). If thermal under shorts are worn, they are of the same main color as the shorts

stockings (provided by league) worn over shin guards

shinguards (provided by league). Shinguards with ankle protection is recommended and available at any good sporting goods store (Modells, Sports Authority...)

soccer cleats highly recommended, see below. The basic compulsory equipment of a goalkeeper is:

each goalkeeper wears colors which distinguish him from the other players and the referee (provided by FHS)

goalkeeper gloves recommended but not required. In inclement weather, long sleeve shirts and or sweat pants may be worn under the uniform, preferably the same color as the uniform. About Soccer cleats Wearing soccer cleats outdoors makes the player safer due to increased traction. Any cleats (baseball, football, etc.) other than regulation soccer cleats are not recommended. Shoe size is the most critical aspect for good soccer shoes for every player. Wearing last years cleats if the youth player's foot size has increased or wearing an older sibling's cleats with "room to grow" are serious mistakes. Foot injuries will occur to a player who is not wearing properly fitted soccer cleats. They will not play well and will hate going to the practices or games. Good soccer cleats which a youth player will probably get only one season from should not cost an arm an a leg, so fit the player with the right size shoe. When choosing a pair of soccer cleats find one with a cleat arrangement which does not place a cleat directly under the ball of the big toe. Just about all soccer cleats are missing a cleat directly under the toe of the shoe, this allows the foot to get underneath the ball easily without striking the ground. Youth soccer cleats usually cost $15 to $40. About Shin Guards Required Shin guards are worn to protect the shin from impact injury due to being kicked by another player. If the shin pads are incapable of giving any real impact protection they are not worth your money. If the shin pads are so short that they don't cover the players shin they are not worth your money. Shin guards should fit well. They should not be so large or bulky to impair a players movement but large enough to cover the shin and thereby spread any impact over a wide area, thus lessening the impact of the blow. They should be loose enough to not squeeze the life out of the players foot or lower leg, but tight enough that they do not turn around the leg protecting the calf instead of the shin. They should have a satisfactory method of staying up against the shin during games. Shin guards should have enough padding so that they can absorb the energy of impact. Shin guards work in two ways. First they spread the impact over a large area of the shin through their surface area against the leg and second by absorbing the energy of the impact with their padding. Recently shin guards have been designed with hard plastic protective cups along the the lower sides of the guard. The cups are designed to protect the laterial and medial malleolus which are often injured in soccer. These are the ankle parts which stick out on the two sides of the ankle. Shin guard with this protection is recommended and should cost less than $20.