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Question

My son is 14 and is on a youth baseball team, he is a catcher, and during practice catchers are only required to wear a catchers mask while catching, I would like him to wear all the protective equipment he can, but he says he doesnt need it because it is just practice. What areas should he be worried about getting hurt in particular while catching without protection?

Answer 1

 Oh my, you need to immediately go out and get him an athletic supporter with a protective cup!  If you're not sure what those are you can ask any local sporting goods store and they can tell you.  It basically is a cotton strap that holds a hard plastic shell to protect his testicles.  As a catcher, this is a VERY important piece of equipment - but be sure to get the right sized cup -trust me, our family knows all too well the dangers of an ill-fitting cup.  I had bought a cup and supporter for my teenage son and just went by the waist size for the jock and didn't realize that the cup that came with it was the WRONG SIZE.  In one of his games, he blocked a pitch and the baseball hit him extremely hard in the groin and since the cup was too small, it smashed the cup into his t******e and fractured it.  It swelled to the size of a grapefruit and he had to have it surgically repaired.  I felt so awful for not getting the correct size cup for him, but he has since recovered and is catching again - now with a properly fitting cup.

Even for practice be sure he wears a cup because who is to say that accidents don't happen then, too!  Hope this helps!