One of the most asked questions regarding our Floor Hockey leagues is “why can’t we use wooden or composite hockey sticks?” Many of you have grown up using these types of sticks playing street hockey with friends and/or organized floor hockey leagues with other organizations. With virtually every sport, players become accustomed to specific equipment, and are generally resistant to change. We get it. You get a feel for a specific piece of equipment, and you are also superstitious! That being said, we hope you can appreciate where we’re coming from regarding our Floor Hockey leagues where wooden and composite sticks are considered illegal equipment. Here is a breakdown of legal and illegal sticks for goalies and players, as well as the justification behind the rules.
Goalie - Floor Hockey: The shaft can be made of any material. The blade must be plastic and must not
be taped.
Goalies - Street Hockey: Can use any type of stick. Tape is permitted anywhere on goalie blades (including the bottom of the blade).
Players - Only DOM brand sticks are allowed to be used in SSC Floor Hockey Leagues (with the exception of premium 5-on-5, Rink and Street Hockey offerings where there are no stick restrictions). These have a fiberglass or plastic shaft (must be hollow) and a plastic blade. The DOM ‘Elite’ or DOM ‘Pro’ sticks can be purchased at Adrenaline Source for Sports. The DOM ‘Vision’ Sticks are not allowed. Any sticks that are not DOM brand sticks or any blade that is not plastic (with the exception of Premium 5-on-5, Rink and Street Hockey offerings) is considered illegal. Any tape on the blade of a stick, including edges and faces (with the exception of Street Hockey offerings) is also considered illegal.
The reasons for restrictions on sticks are as follows:
- Facility Restrictions: The damage done to a hardwood gym floor by an adult with a composite or wooden stick is detrimental, and results in constant, expensive re-surfacing of the gym floor. Therefore, many facilities do not allow floor hockey at all, and those that do generally do not allow anything except for plastic blades.
- Player Safety: Certain shafts like wooden ones are considerably heavier and may injure unprotected players. Additionally, our leagues are co-ed, and so you’re dealing with a large variety of strength levels.
- Unfair Advantage: Many players do not have expensive composite sticks, nor do they have an interest in investing in one. Nonetheless, there are others who will have these types of sticks, and therefore will be at a significant advantage.
So at the end of the day, grab a DOM brand stick, get used to it, and have fun!
