The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 6 letter word ICE SKATES
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
I
C
E
S
K
A
T
E
S
More clues leading to the result ICE SKATES
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Sports equipment" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case sports equipment = ice skates.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does ICE SKATES mean?
ICE SKATES verb- To skate on ice, wearing ice skates