One question we’ve been asked over and over is why we do not allow ice hockey, floor hockey, and lacrosse gloves in our floor hockey leagues (with the exception of street hockey offerings). While we would love to provide a scientific explanation full of stats and charts, the truth is that it comes down to one reason: sportsmanship!
We have found that when players do wear gloves, there is an increased chance of physicality and fisticuffs and that is not in line with our ‘Fun First, Winning Second’ philosophy. Players have a tendency to slash more as they are likely thinking to themselves “they’re wearing gloves, it’s all good.” By having no gloves across the playing field, it ensures we are doing our best to reduce the amount of violations during games. We have also sent several surveys over the years and the feedback toward not having gloves in our leagues is always positive; you could say the rule is powered by the players.
To a lesser degree, we have even seen some of our players ‘shake their mitts’ at other players, which is international hockey code for “wanna fight?” So, at least in our leagues, you’ll have to shake something besides your gloves to get the attention of your opponents!
