We were very pleased to receive a grant from the Maidstone Leisure Trust this Summer towards the costs of purchasing new helmets for our kitted teams.

The kitted version of American Football is an expensive sport to play. A player needs a safety helmet, shoulder pads, rib pads and lower body pads. All of this equipment has to be imported from the USA and helmets alone now cost in the region of £300 each.

Rather than ask parents to find such sums, our club runs on a subscription basis that enables our young people to effectively ‘loan’ the equipment they need and return it when they decide to stop playing or age out.

However, such equipment also has a shelf life. Helmets are usually certified for a maximum of ten years of use, after which they have to be reconditioned or replaced. Unfortunately, there is nowhere in the UK that reconditions helmets and so it is cheaper to buy a new helmet than to send them back to the USA for reconditioning.

As a club, we have a rolling programme of kit replacement so that we stay ahead of the curve with the need to replace older equipment and ensure our children and young people are always kept as safe as possible in a contact sport. In 2026, the Maidstone Leisure Trust were kind enough to partner with us in that kit replacement programme and sponsored the purchase of five new helmets for our under 16s team (see photo below). Thank you to the MLT for their support.