Grasshopper 4'x6' Soccer Goal by Rukket

Anybody for some back yard soccer?  Well, come on over! The fall soccer season may be over, but soccer never ends in our back yard!

To that end, Rukket has developed another soccer goal and has graciously allowed my family to share it with our club (and you!) and to put it to the test! 

As with the first Rukket net we reviewed, the Grasshopper 4’x6’ Goal appears to be well-made.

It arrived disassembled in a tall skinny box.  It wasn’t the easiest thing to put together.  It definitely helped to have one person feed the poles through the sleeves, and one on the floor guiding the ends into the elbow fittings.  Thankfully, you only have to do that for the initial set up.  After that, you simply fold and store, or unfold and play.

Our U10 team was the first to try it out and they loved it! They learned very quickly, however, that Rukket provides stakes for a reason.  :)Although the net stayed in place better when pinned down, they still needed to reposition it frequently and push the stakes back down (soft ground, maybe?).  But that’s pretty much expected with any portable net.  Plus, the sign of a great shot is how far the net moves, right?  Lol! My high school players also put it to the test.  Since they have used all kinds of nets, I asked them for some honest feedback.  If there is one thing I’ve come to expect, it’s brutal honesty from teenagers. Here are the pros and cons they listed:

Pros…

1. Really light weight
2. Well made
3. Easy to setup/fold down
4. Material seems nice
5. Good size
6. Perfect for subdivisions that don’t have huge yards, or where a permanent net might not be permitted
7. Could be used indoors.
8. Has two side pockets in which water bottles or other things can be placed to weight the net down (for indoor use or where you can’t use stakes)
9. Comes with 4 stakes.

Cons…

1. A pain to initially put together.  But no more than with any other net that has sleeves and poles—and you only have to do it once.
2. Stakes don’t hold well if a player blasts the ball.  We found it works best though when we put the front two stakes on the strap across the goal at each corner. 
3. Still fairly large when all folded up. 

I agree that it’s still pretty big when folded up.  Note the measurements above. It just  barely fit in the back of my Subaru Outback with the top of the net resting on the back head rest.  However, it easily fit in the back of my Expedition.  I share that so you will have a realistic expectation about how you will use it and whether or not it will fit in your vehicle for a game at the park.

Because of it’s size--both set up and folded--we think this goal is best suited for back yard soccer.  I love that it’s fairly big, yet easily folds flat for storage when it’s not in use!  Mowing around big heavy nets is highly overrated, lol!

I would definitely recommend this net to friends.  Keep up the good work Rukket!  And thank you for making a product that encourages kids to go out back and practice what is fast becoming a major sport in America!

Rukket was kind enough to send us a net to review.  But as always, the opinions expressed here are totally our own.