Gum shields and footy boots for 7 year old girls

[Mothergrimm]

My dd (7) brought home a letter from her PE teacher last week saying that she needed to have a gum shield and football boots. This seems totally OTT for a not very sporty 7 year old. Why the gum shield? I am now worried that they are being so dangerous in games that she is in danger of being injured. dd said she wont wear one and will just 'forget' it and the boots to miss the activities they are needed for. Anyone else have to supply these items? Oh, its a state school she's at.

[CNyle]

get a shock doctor one
at sports shops

[DorotheaPlenticlew]

Don't see the problem with a gum shield, why should it bother you?

Football boots -- well if they are expensive then that seems like a lot to ask of you, unless she is joining a football team as extracurricular activity (in which case surely quite normal)

[AvengingGerbil]

The sport is not necessarily dangerous. Would your dd prefer to lose a tooth if a ball accidentally caught her in the face? Or would you prefer her not to do sport and join the race of couch potatoes?

[GrimmaTheNome]

My DD had to have these from yr 7. And shin pads. They are used in tag rugby, hockey and football as apt. If your school is lucky enough to have a grass playing field then studded boots are a good idea - trainers can be too slippery.

Gum shield (the sort you fit yourself by softening with boiling water) wasn't very expensive.

The games aren't really dangerous but its just as well to have the right kit. Hockey sticks could get mis-swung; we never had shields but nowadays they'd probably get sued if they didn't ask for them to be worn and an accident happened.

If your DD isn't sporty then its a really bad idea to let her think she can cop out of PE by 'forgetting' kit.

[DorotheaPlenticlew]

Agree with Grimma, the notion of colluding with her to miss PE is a bad one. Even if you are not sporty either, doesn't mean you shouldn't encourage her to try and enjoy it. She will have a better chance of doing so if appropriate kit is provided.

[LadyMuck]

I think that you should be told for which sports she needs the gumshield. Hockey would be the obvious one for girls. And presumably she does now have some permanent teeth which you would want her to keep?

If she isn't playing hockey then a gumshield is a bit ott but I guess the school may have had incidents in previous years.

Why should the fact that your dd is nonsporty come into the equation? she'll have to do the same compulsory PE lessons as everyone else. If she isn't mathematically inclined would you be expecting her to skip maths?

[LIZS]

dd has a mouthguard for hockey but they play on astroturf so no boots atm although it used to be on their kit list. Decathlon do some velcro cheapies if you do need some.

[Mothergrimm]

No I don't want to encourage her to skip PE. But she is really worried that she is being asked to wear the shield because they are about to play a really dangerous sport and its going to hurt (IYSWIM). The footy boots seem like yet another expense. She already has to have indoor shoes, out door shoes and plimsolls for school. Her elder brothers didn't need boots unless they played on the school team and there was never a request for a gum sheild.

[TennisFan]

My DD (nearly 6) got her first rugby boots (ebay) and mouthguard for mini-rugby.
She was so excited - she would dearly love to take them to her school every day if they would let her.
You can get the mouth guards for about £2-3 and there are loads of football/rugby boots around from about size 11 or 12

[GrimmaTheNome]

well, my DD is in yr6 now and hasn't had a serious injury and AFAIK none of her classmates have either. The gumshield is just a sensible precaution. Hockey shouldn't be a contact sport at all.

Her school does seem to be overdoing the footwear though - DD just has boots for grass and non-marking trainers for both indoor and hard surface stuff.

[GrimmaTheNome]

(In fact DDs only injuries have been due to falling over and come to think all inflicted at playtime not games lessons. Tag rugby seems to be safer than tig! )

[Ponders]

Trouble with mouth guards, esp at this age, is that their teeth are changing on an almost daily basis so the minute you get one to fit (if you can get one to fit, it's a nightmare of a job) it won't fit next week.

What sport are they doing at 7???

[LauraIngallsWilder]

I think mouth guards for 7 year olds is OTT

At secondary level yes

My ds is playing rugby now aged 8, no way does he NEED a mouth guard just yet - they dont/cant throw the ball hard enough to cause damage surely?

[Mothergrimm]

Ponders has flagged up another prob with the sheild - her teeth seem to look different every day. Also hate to think of how dirty its going to get in the bottom of her p.e kit all term.

[LadyMuck]

If you get a shockguard gumshield you just reboil it and refit it. The gumshield should come in a case rather than be lose in her bag (though ds often seems to have his loose). The school must be able to tell you which sport this is for though.

[Mothergrimm]

Did not know you could re-fit them, that is good news. Think I will corner the PE teacher and ask what sports they are playing. Still think its ott though. Why not go the whole hog and have them wear helmets, body armour and so on?
Sorry, being silly now. Just get fed up with all the requests from school which seem to ensure we spend every other weekend shopping.

[GrimmaTheNome]

DDs gumshield case was difficult to close so we just put it in the smallest size food box.
I just checked with her, its only for hockey.

I'm just glad she's a girl... one of the boys did a Show and Tell about cricket and had to be dissuaded from including his box

[BosworthBear]

Girls at our school need shin pads and gum sheild from yr3 for hockey, boys don't need then until later for contact hockey. Chose of astro turf or football boots, which are also used for cross country. Gum sheilds are cheap and remouldable but since we don't need them for netball in Spring term we didn't need to remould it (luckily!!!)

[all4u]

I am just eqipping my 12 yr old daughter for hockey and have bought her shin pads, padded gloves and a gumshield. It is better safe than sorry - my sister (30s) didn't waer protective gear when playing hockey and got a direct hit on her knuckles which, quite simply, smashed them to pieces! If only she had been wearing a glove with some neoprene padding the force would have been spread and the injury just bruising. It is also psychologically easier if they start out using the protective gear as a given then they will not use it as a rebellion issue when they are teenagers! (Actually I loved hockey but was too small really and although I was never injured I recall that I would have given a lot to be able to wear neoprene gloves in the winters...)

[Saracen]

Gumshields are a pain to keep re-fitting, but can be bought quite cheaply and are safety equipment so I wouldn't object to that. However, I think football shoes are too great an expense for a seven year old at a state school. Many parents will not be able to afford them.

If these items are compulsory, they should have been on the uniform/kit list you were given before your daughter started school.

Last year, my 10yo daughter's PE teacher sprang it on us that her cheap trainers were "not suitable" for PE, and that she needed "properly supportive leather ones." I refused to buy them. She'd been running around in the cheap ones for years and I couldn't see that PE at school needed anything different.

[ChippyMinton]

if you need cheap football boots, sportsdirect often have them on offer for £10-£15 in smaller sizes.

[domesticsluttery]

All 3 of my DC (who are 4, 6 and 8) have football boots. I don't usually pay more than £10 for a pair and have frequently picked them up for £5 in teh sales at Sports Direct. The only exception are DD's (which have been passed down from DS2) which are a size 8 and so cost more as Sports Direct start at a 10.

None of them have gumshields though, and DS1 plays hockey as well as football.

[defyingravity]

Dd doesn't have one but they were strongly reccomeneded from Year 3 onwards for hockey.

If she joins the hockey club at school she HAS to have one.

[Butkin]

DD has been chomping to buy her first gumshield for ages(one of the few school items where they can choose their own colour!) and was pleased when we were asked to buy her one at start of Yr3 (7yo).

We went to Sports Direct and bought her one of the ones you reheat and made sure it was the one which was for under 8 years as the bigger ones had proven too big for some of her friends. This one is pink and seems to work and fit well.

She plays hockey, football and is captain of her year's netball team but she tells us she only has to wear the gumshield for hockey.

[BCBG]

For goodness sake! MotherGrimm, your first post said

"I am now worried that they are being so dangerous in games..." and a later post said

" But she is really worried that she is being asked to wear the shield because they are about to play a really dangerous sport and its going to hurt (IYSWIM)".....maybe a more positive attitude would help you daughter embrace new challenges better herself? (and I do speak from experience as a child brought up to fear everything by a very protective parent ). All my children, down to my current 8 yr old dd, have had gumshields at this age for hockey, and the football boots are a sensible non slip option for playing hockey on wet grass. DD has them as well. Pretty standard school kit round here. Surely you need to help her to see sports as fun, not something to be evaded, feared or avoided?