Is There A Difference Between Women's And Boys' Soccer Cleats?

Around 2.3 million boys and 1.7 million women play soccer in the United States, according the latest FIFA Big Count of players, conducted in 2006. That's a lot of demand for soccer cleats, which a half-dozen leading soccer shoemaking companies are happy to fulfill. Knowing the difference between women's and youth soccer cleats becomes particularly important when ordering shoes online or if your feet have an atypical length or width for your gender or age.

Background

Soccer shoe sizes are based on regular shoe sizes, according to leading online purveyor Eurosport.com. In the United States, shoe sizes differ for men, women and youth, writes Margo DeMello in "Feet and Footwear: A Cultural Encyclopedia." Women's shoe sizes range from size 5 to 15 ½, while men's run from 3 ½ to 14, with sizes increasing in half-size increments. Men and women can wear each other's shoes or youth shoes if their feet are small enough, and a woman's size is 1 ½ sizes greater than the equivalent men's size. The sizes in the U.S. are based on measures of lasts, which are wooden or plastic foot-shaped forms used to manufacture the uppers of a shoe.

Expert Insight

Beginning in the late 1970s and accelerating in the 1990s, shoemakers have worked to provide women-specific soccer shoes based on lasts redesigned from men's and boys' versions. "There is most definitely a difference between women's and boys' cleats," notes John Scott, product specialist for Endeavor Sports, the North Carolina-based parent company of mail-order soccer gear company Eurosport. "Women's feet tend to be more triangular with the heel being significantly narrower than the forefoot, while boys and men are more straight and plank like."

Considerations

Technically speaking, boys' cleats are not delineated separately from girls' cleats, as girls' feet don't start narrowing until they mature, Scott notes. Thus, soccer shoes are typically marketed for youth rather than boys or girls. A small woman with small feet, who may not find any men's cleats in her size, may be able to find a better fit in a youth cleat in terms of either length, width or foot shape. To pick one example, Adidas's F50 Adizero cleat comes in women's sizes 6 to 10, with the triangular shape mentioned by Scott, as well as in men's sizes 7 ½ to 13 and youth sizes 4 to 6, in a more plank-shaped form. Costs may play a role. Soccer player Courtney Cook, a multi-sport athlete in Baltimore, Maryland, finds that for both indoor shoes and outdoor cleats, size 3 youth shoes made by Adidas fit her just as well as size 5 women's shoes and cost less.

Fit

Soccer shoes are typically constructed of supple kangaroo or synthetic leather, with a narrow upper compared to street shoes to allow feel of the ball. Eurosport recommends the end of the shoe be as close to the toes as possible without touching, allowing for a gap of ¼ to ½ inch. Each half-size yields 3/16 inch or 4 mm of length. Look for a snug fit in the width so your foot doesn't slide around. Since many shoes are available in only one width, "you may need to experiment with several different shoes" until you find the best fit, Eurosport notes.