In the late "˜80s, I was spending my saved up allowance to buy a Mylec street hockey goal for myself, so it felt weird putting together another one, after all of those years. The PVC looked a bit inferior to the old stuff, but everything seems to be, from every manufacturer. The sleeves made putting the net on a lot easier, and will probably make that part of the net sturdier when you drag the goal back and forth on the driveway/street.

That said, the netting itself seems a bit thinner than ideal, so I question how long it'll last with harder shots, or a puck instead of a ball. Time will tell, and on how well it handles time outside, too. One SMALL gripe that I have is that the net isn't very taught. For example, if you shoot and the puck goes into the net and it rolls behind the bottom bar, which is pretty typical, you have to whack at it a few times to get it loose. Anyone who grew up playing Street Hockey knows that a simple tap into the top of a taught net should pull the whole thing tight and pop the ball free. Not with one of these nets. The kids don't mind, nor will most people, but it's a pet peeve of mine as it isn't "right", and might be for some others in my generation. Maybe it has something to do with advertising this as an "All-Purpose" goal, so it can take a lacrosse or soccer ball. I don't know, but I don't like it.

I bought this set in Feb 2008, and I continue to marvel at its durability. It's simply a series of PVC pipes and elbows (so, perhaps I shouldn't be surprised at how well it has held up), but we use the nets for street hockey (balls, not pucks) and soccer quite regularly, at no obvious detriment to the goals. In addition, they stay outside, and have been frozen during winters, and have been run over by players, a pickup truck, a Razor Dune Buggy (twice), and an exuberant Weimaraner who was chasing a soccer ball and got caught up in the nets (goal!). The PVC pops out of the elbows every once in a while, but go back in place with relative ease. While the red sleeves have faded quite a bit, the nets have shown no wear.

Considering how much stuff gets broken around our house, the $40 spent on these goals has been a deeply gratifying investment.

** Update at 3 years of use **

We still use these nets at least 3-4 times/week and the goals stay outdoors when not in use. Admittedly, this is not a recipe for longevity, and last week, part of the netting finally gave up and began detaching from the sleeve. Also, in that trouble spot, the sleeve itself is starting to unstitch. There is no damage to the PVC at this point (even though my son takes great enjoyment in scoring on me in games of street hockey and then running his body into the goal). This sort of wear and tear is what we expected 2 years ago, and well placed duct tape has gotten us through very well. So that our 3-year-old goals no longer have to suffer the tortures of the damned, we will purchase another set of these goals in the very near future.

** Second update **

I recently discovered that Mylec makes replacements nets, and the newly ordered Mylec 817 Replacement Net for 54in x 44in Goals fit like a glove. The goals look brand new and are ready for a thrashin'.

Also, it should be said that we've developed a ding in the center PVC bar of one of the goals (it looks like my son may have chopped the bar with a hockey stick). At this writing (more than 4 years since the original purchase), there have been no shattering supports, no rupturing PVC elbows, just good fun.

** Third update **

(July 2013) Okay, the crossbar on one of the goals finally gave out and shattered. Oddly, a basketball was the culprit. The repairs, however, were easily made by visiting the local hardware store for some PVC -- one important note is that true PVC/Charlotte Pipe is thicker than the pipes used for these goals. I was able to get the PVC into the couplings of the goal, but it took a little work and some dish soap and a rubber mallet. If I wanted to do it right, I'd probably thin the ends of the store-bought PVC, because there's no way that I'll ever get this thing apart now. That's not a problem, because I always leave them assembled.

sturdy, easy to assemble and a simple ingredient for fun afternoons of street hockey for the neighborhood kids. Buy two.

I run a local soccer league and was using pop-up goals for 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 year old soccer players. I decided to replace the old pop-up goals with this. This was a great investment. It costs less than pop-up goals and is more stable. It isn't really folding (in my opinion) but it definitely is easy to take apart and put together. I have been using it now for two years so it is more than worth its weight in gold. I am located in Florida and these goals are stored outside all year round. They have been able to withstand the Florida sun and heat during the two years. It no longer looks brand new, of course, but it is holding up well despite the harsh weather.

I'll certainly be taking the advice of a couple of reviewers and will be gluing the small side poles to the back one as they come out way too easily, but it's a good, basic net. I'm using it to shoot pucks in the back yard in between hockey seasons and it's working out great. I needed to tie up part of the netting as it's a bit too lose and kept tangling the pucks, but it's a multipurpose net, so I can't complain. Setup was actually a little harder than I thought (I generally barely look at instructions) as I had to pull out a tape measure to figure out which piece was what, but otherwise, was a piece of cake. It's sturdy, stable (once I glue in those back pieces) and, for me, was an absolutely perfect purchase. It allows me to get some shooting exercise and practice my aiming. If you're using it for a game, it *is* rather light weight, but that also makes it great for me as I can move it around easily. I didn't give it 5 stars as, well, it's not perfect, but then perfect would cost a LOT more money, and I also don't have a wicked slapshot, so I'm not likely to shoot through the back of it. For the cost though, it's awesome.