Dear Parents and Guardians,

We are writing to you today to communicate our position on the growing trend of players wearing mini shin pads at football. Over the last few years professional players have been seen wearing increasingly smaller shin pads when they play and naturally this trend has been adopted by grassroots players that want to emulate their heroes.

As a club we feel that these shin pads offer little or no protection for the players and we have noticed how popular they have become, and a number of our players have returned this season wearing them across all ages.

Unfortunately, there is very little guidance on this subject, but the FA have issued the following guidance:

"Shin pads play an important role in injury prevention as they are intended to protect the shin from injury. 'Micro' or 'mini' shin pads may therefore increase the risk of injury due to the smaller amount of shin covered compared to larger sized shin pads."

The FA advise when choosing what shin pads to wear "that safety is prioritised by ensuring a good proportion of the shin area is covered, and therefore protected."

They also added it is important to look out for a CE mark when buying shin pads as this means the shin guards meet safety requirements.

Last week we asked the coaches to have a vote on the banning of all mini shin pads and it was a unanimous decision in favour of removing them from our club. Please can I ask that you support our decision and get appropriate shin pads for your child asap.

Our ambition is to have all mini shinpads replaced by the end of October 2024. Please be aware that your team coach has
been asked to check and players wearing mini shin pads after this time may be asked not to play.

Kind Regards.

Gravesham Borough Leadership Team.
Joanne Hiscock
Chairperson

Gravesham Borough
Darius Farrell
Vice Chair
Gravesham Borough

Dale Barnett
Club Secretary/Welfare Officer
Gravesham Borough

Charlie Gear-Chattam
Welfare Officer
Gravesham Borough