Youth soccer shoes are sized in the same manner as street shoes, with the caveat that major U.S. soccer shoe manufacturers do not make cleats in sizes to fit children under age 4. Given overlapping sizes between sizing for children's, youth, men's and women's soccer shoes, older youth players have a number of options in terms of which size to wear. You can explore the variations among leading manufacturers that affect nominal sizes to find a well-fitting soccer cleat for your child's feet.
Sizing Conventions
Children's shoes include infant's sizes from 2 to 10 for those under 1 year old, sizes for which there are not soccer cleats available. Preschoolers aged 1 to 4 wear child's sizes from 9 to 11, the smallest available for soccer shoes, while children aged 5 and 6 wear child's size 12 or youth size 1. Grade-schoolers from ages 7 to 10 wear youth sizes 1 to 7. Children older than age 10 wear men's sizes beginning with a 6 and up to a 13 and women's sizes beginning with a 5 and going up to a 12.
Examples
If you are looking for a soccer cleat to fit a young child, you'll need to see what the manufacturer offers. For example, leading cleat maker Nike offers the Total90 Jr. Shoot III TF shoe for either boys or girls in child's sizes 10 to 13.5 and youth sizes 1 to 6, including half-sizes. Its website lists the model as appropriate for preschoolers. Its Jr. Bomba model is also available in the same range of sizes. Adidas' Predator model is available beginning in child's size 10.5 and continuing through youth size 4, while its AdiNova runs from a child's 11 to a youth 6.
Child Sizing Data
A child's size 10 is one of the smallest shoes available and fits a foot 6.57 inches long, according to Soccer Website.org, while size 11 fits a foot 7.06 inches long. Dick's Sporting Goods lists a similar but slightly smaller estimated dimension for child's sizes 10 and 11, of 6 ½ and 6 13/16 inches respectively.
Youth Sizing Data
Youth sizes fit feet beginning at 7.91 inches long for size 1, up to 9.24 inches long for size 5. A men's size 5 fits a foot 9 inches long, while a women's size 5 fits a foot 8.66 inches long, according to Soccer Website.org. Thus petite women and smaller men may be able to fit into youth models, which are typically more affordable than adult versions.
Measuring and Fit
To obtain a measurement of foot size, have your child stand in socks on a piece of paper while you outline her foot with a pencil. Add horizontal marks on the paper to show the end of the heel and the tip of the longest toe and measure between these to find the length of the foot; online vendors of sports equipment provide tables to indicate the best shoe size for this length. Move the measurements to the larger size if they fall between two sizes, recommends Soccer Website.org. Soccer shoes should fit naturally but snugly given their narrow design to allow for better feel of the ball, Sports Authority notes.
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