We still play two to three times a week on a good week, and are familiar with the internal dialogue about retirement every time we break a stick.  The cost of gear has gotten out of control, and we decided to do something about it.

It turns out, the top end sticks you’re now used to paying over $300 for at a retailer aren’t all that special.  They’re made with a carbon-fiber weave, same as ours.  Ours weigh less than 380 grams, have responsive kick points, and come in the curves and flexes that make your game yours.  

The guys charging you an arm and a leg also pay tens of millions of dollars a year in endorsements, carry massive debt loads, and sell through retailers who need to make their markup to stay afloat.  All told, the cost of their stick looks a lot like your average C leaguer on Super Bowl Monday.

We know about 4 am practices, overnight bus rides back from two game sets in the middle of nowhere, getting in shooting lanes when we’re down 6-2. (Well, Pete knows that one).  We’ve been bruised up, banged up and stitched up, with the X-Rays to prove it. 

And we want to share these joys with you.  We make sticks for the parents driving their kids to practice well before dawn, the beauty on their way to juniors and the company man struggling through the 8 AM staff meeting after an 11PM rec game.  Our sticks perform well enough to get you to the show but won’t cost you your entire rookie deal to play.

We made these for the love of the game.  We made these for us and for you.  

We’re Shift Hockey. Let’s go.