Before you head out to the field, you need to know the equipment needed to play soccer. Every sport has at least some equipment that is used by the athletes on the field. In some sports, there are additional requirements for equipment that goes on the players themselves, but this is not the case with soccer. Thankfully, there is very little equipment needed to play soccer, allowing even small, poorly funded schools and cities to join in.

In fact, in cities where the budget for sports has been dramatically cut, it is often soccer that remains as an option because there is so little equipment needed to play soccer at all. All that is really needed is an open field, a ball, two goal nets and the players to play the game. Little kids will gather together and play pick up games even if they have never played on a league before. It is a universal game, and even children from far away would be perfectly content playing the game alongside their peers from foreign countries.

In hockey, football and even basketball and baseball, there is a lot of equipment that the player must put on with the rules changing every year. While this is for their own protection of course, it also drives up the cost of playing the game.

There are many kids on the ice at a hockey game sulking at power forward because their parents could not afford good goalie pads; the cost can even keep kids who are naturals at one position over another from playing where they belong. Thankfully, this is not the case with soccer- in most leagues the only personal equipment needed to play soccer is an athletic supporter for boys and shin guards for everyone.

Some city and school leagues are discussing new rules for the equipment needed to play soccer with talk about more than just the standard shin guards being used. Additional equipment that might soon be required by the leagues include mouth protectors, helmets and elbow pads. New rules usually come about after an injury has occurred on the field and may be suggested by the parents of the injured child but agreed upon by the others who are concerned about safety on the field as well.

Because there is not a lot of equipment needed to play soccer, it can be a rewarding way to get fit for older people as well. Some adults who miss the spirit of team sport competition might find themselves wishing for a chance to play again and may be thrilled to join a soccer league for their age group knowing they do not have to spend an extreme amount of money on buying equipment, especially if they are not sure that they can actually still manage to play at all. After all, who wants to buy a full outfit of pads and other gear only to twist their ankle on the first day and have to bow out?