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Taking care of your equipment

Wet and cold weather brings some special challenges to keeping your soccer equipment in good shape. Let's start with your soccer shoes. If your shoes got wet or muddy at a game or practice, clean as much of the mud off as you can at the field and stick your shoes into a plastic bag [your car will stay cleaner and so will your house]. At home clean the shoes right away getting as much of the water off as possible. Put a shoetree or balled-up plastic bags in the toes of the shoes. This will help the shoes keeping their shape as they dry. Then put your shoes next to a gentle source of heat, such as a warm air outlet. I hang mine up in the laundry room which is fairly warm all the time. Do not put them near a direct source of heat such as a fireplace. Intense heat may cause leather damage. 

Your gloves need to be treated with as much care as your boots are. [ What, You haven't been taking care of either?] Start by washing them occasionally. They get quite dirty and sweaty which may cause them to smell. After you have washed them or they are wet from a game, dry them in the same way as mentioned above for your shoes. Away from a direct source of heat but near something warm. You can lay them on a towel or hang them up on a wash line. In fact, when you bought the gloves did they come in a small bag which mentioned how they should be taken care of? You didn't read those instructions? Well, you should, because there is some valuable information there.  It will tell you if it is a "dry" or a "wet" glove and will give you the proper way to take care of your gloves.  See!! That is important information to have. I recommend that you have several pairs of gloves. One pair should have really soft palms. The softer the palm the better grip you get on the ball. But, that soft material has a drawback. It wears down real fast. So I have another pair of gloves that have a little harder material on the palms. This pair of gloves will last me all season. [ If you play for a Select Club see if the club will buy you a pair of gloves.  There is no reason why goalkeepers should pay extra money for gloves and additional keeper jerseys]

Taking care of you shirt, shorts and socks is pretty straightforward. Wash and dry them as soon as you can after a game or practice. One item you might have forgotten is your shin pads. Dry them in the same way you do your shoes and gloves. If you have ever had to put on a pair of wet and cold shin guards you will know what I mean.

Clean and dry your sports equipment bag occasionally as well. If you are like most people there might be an accumulation of " things " at the bottom of the bag. You might even find some money you didn't know you had. 

Good luck with your soccer. Stay dry and warm.

Willi Lindner
Safe Hands Goalkeeping

Play Hard, Play Fair.