Helmets, face guards and catcher's gear sized for kids

One rule outranks everything: the mark, and the fit

A batting helmet, a catcher's helmet and a chest protector are the three pieces of youth gear that carry a safety standard, and the standard is the whole purchase. Helmets are certified to the NOCSAE standard and carry the SEI mark; the maker prints the statement on the product page, and this site quotes it on every card. Chest protectors for catchers carry a NOCSAE commotio cordis statement. If a helmet or chest protector does not carry the mark, it does not matter what it costs or what color it comes in. The second rule is fit: a certified helmet that sits loose does not do its job. Size by head circumference with a tape measure, not by age; the batting helmet size chart has the method and every youth shell's published range.

How the category divides

Batting helmets are the one piece every kid needs from tee ball on, even though the league has spares (the spares are the reason to buy one). Best youth batting helmets ranks the Rawlings and Easton shells with each maker's hat-size range quoted. Face guards and jaw guards attach to specific shells and are certified with them, so the guard and the helmet are bought as a pair; best youth helmets with face guard covers the maker-fitted combinations and face guard vs jaw guard explains what each covers and what it does to the view of the pitch. Catcher's gear is a helmet, chest protector and leg guards sold as a set by age band; see best youth catcher's gear sets and the catcher's gear size chart. Cups and sliding shorts are covered on youth cups and sliding shorts.

What to buy first

The batting helmet, in the first week. Most parents put it off because the team has a bag of them; by week three the kid is wearing a sweaty, ill-fitting spare and the parent buys one anyway. A cup arrives with kid pitch (around age 8) and with catching at any age. Catcher's gear comes last and only for the kid who catches: the league usually supplies a team set, and a personal set is a purchase for the kid who has caught for a season and wants to keep doing it.

What decides the price

On helmets, ventilation, liner and whether a guard comes fitted; the certification is the same from the cheapest shell up. On catcher's sets, the size band and the chest protector's construction; a T-Ball set and an intermediate set are different products with the same name on the box. The mistake most parents make with catcher's gear is buying the set by age instead of measuring the torso: the chest protector is sized in inches from collarbone to navel, and a 9-year-old can need the 7–9 size or the 9–12 size depending on build. Rawlings Velo 2.0 vs All-Star S7 AXIS compares the two sets parents of 12- to 15-year-old catchers ask about most.

Softball

Fastpitch helmets ship with a face mask installed, and most youth fastpitch leagues require it. The softball helmets are ranked on the face-guard page; the rest of the daughter's list is on what does my daughter need for softball. Every product here shows its certification statement quoted from the maker, with the link; the buy buttons check the current Amazon price rather than printing one.

If you only read one page

Read the helmet size chart, measure the head with a tape, and buy the shell whose published range contains that number, with a guard fitted by the maker if the league requires one or the kid pitches and hits. For a catcher, measure collarbone to navel before you look at a single set. Every certification statement on this hub is quoted from the maker's page with the link, so you can confirm the mark yourself in thirty seconds; that check is worth more than any ranking on the site, and it is the one step most parents skip.