Football Speed Cage Hire From £395 ex VAT. Package prices available.

The Football Speed Cage - also listed as an inflatable speed cage or a speed-radar football game - is a big blue inflatable with an open front and clear mesh sides. You run up and boot a ball into it as hard as you can, a radar reads how fast it went, and the number comes up on a red digital display inside for everyone to see. People queue up to beat each other's reading, and that's most of the point of it.

It isn't only for footballs. The radar picks up whatever you kick, throw or serve at it, so a rugby ball, a tennis serve, a cricket throw or a basketball all register the same way, and the display shows the speed in miles per hour to within a mile an hour or so. We've watched a fair few grown men go quiet trying and failing to top a teenager's number.

What you get

• A blue inflatable cage with an open front and clear mesh netting on the sides and back to catch the ball
• 13ft long x 9ft 6in wide x 9ft high once inflated
• One player at a time, with the queue watching the display
• A speed radar that reads the pace of the shot
• A red digital display inside that shows the speed in mph
• Works with footballs, rugby balls, basketballs and most other balls you'd throw or kick
• All ages can have a go, from a child's gentle prod to a full run-up
• Runs from a standard mains socket for the blower and the radar

Works well at

It tends to work at school sports days and fun days, corporate fun days and team-building events, university events, summer fêtes, charity fundraisers and football-themed parties. It draws a crowd whether people are queuing for a go or standing about waiting to see if anyone can knock the top score off, which is half the entertainment.

The cage itself is 13ft long, about 9ft 6in wide and just under 9ft high, so it's a fair-sized inflatable that wants a decent bit of open space, indoors or out, with a power socket nearby for the blower and the radar. Because a full run-up is half the point, allow roughly 30ft of clear length in the kicking direction and about 12ft across, so nobody has to hold back on their shot. The 9ft height is still worth checking against the ceiling if you have a hall in mind, especially once you account for light fittings. We'll confirm the footprint and the power it needs when you enquire, since the space you've got usually decides where it goes and what it sits alongside.

Football Speed Cage hire across Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and London

We've run Monster Event Hire from our unit in Havant since 2002, and the kit is all ours, so whoever sets it up and runs it's one of our own staff rather than a sub-contractor. They're first-aid trained and enhanced-DBS registered, which matters at a school or a children's party, and the radar and display are PAT-tested every year along with the rest of our electrical kit. The cage has PIPA tag 69769, on the national register if you want to see its inspection record. We carry £10 million public liability insurance with the certificate available on request, risk assessments for every item, and additional licensed-premises cover, so there's no issue running it at a pub, club or bar.

It pairs up with our penalty shootout and human table football for a football corner, and there's the rest of our sports and competitive games if you're putting a sports day together. We cover Havant, Portsmouth and out across Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and London. Tell us your date and where you are and we'll put a price together.