The essential equipment required depends completely on the league in which you are playing, and if it is a competitive league, versus a simple recreation league. The requirements change depending on the purpose, and seriousness of the league as rules, and players will vary.
Both leagues require a regulation size basketball. For a women’s league the ball is slightly smaller in size. Men’s basketball’s are approximately 1 inch larger in diameter.
Along with the ball you will need two hoops that are the right height, and proper distance apart. The court will be set according with appropriate markings on it and the nets will have a very specific place in which they will be.
This is the absolutely basic equipment necessary, now onto the personal equipment.
Each team will have a seat of jerseys and colors. Professional Leagues will have jerseys that are designed by professionals, and are stunning, where house and local leagues will traditionally have jerseys that are frequently similar as they take the logos from professional leagues and just replace the home city name. You will also wear basketball shorts that usually come down around the knees and match the jersey or at least coordinate with it.
One of the most important parts to a uniform for a basketball player is the shoes. Basketball players pride themselves on having the very best shoes out there. They can provide for sharp turns and good grip when launching to get the ball with the right treads. Buying cheaper gym shoes that won’t last very well can and will affect your quality of play eventually. The biggest investment that a basketball player will have to make will be the shoes. You will end up spending at the very least a couple hundred dollars to get a good pair of shoes that will stand up to the quality of player that basketball players want.
Some players also choose to have jockstraps as a means of protecting themselves during a game. Occasionally when two players go up in the air and try to go for a ball, legs and knees or even feet flail around and can hit other players in very delicate spots, and having even a small amount of protection can lessen the impact and potential damage that these accidents can cause. While some players do not partake of this particular form of protection, a lot more are coming around and getting every form of protection that they can to ensure that an injury that might happen doesn’t happen due to a lack of proper protective equipment.
Some last pieces of optional equipment are eye, ear, and nose protectors. Most common of which is the eye protection as more and more people are requiring glasses of some form of visual aid, or simply want to protect their eyes from having foreign objects come into contact with them. The protection just assists the player in ensuring his or her safety with that additional layer that it provides that would otherwise be left wide open.
Photo credit: aturkus
