Things to look for in footwear for our athletes.
Athletic footwear is very important for our young athletes right from the U8’s and up.
Here are some pointers to look for when shopping.
- Look for a running shoe when visiting a sports
store. There are many styles out there and it is best to avoid court shoes,
basketball shoes and walking shoes for kids in a Track and Field program. - Ensure the shoe fits. You must fit the larger
foot and have a thumbs width after the longest toe. Sometimes parents will buy
shoes several sizes too large for their children so they will last longer. This
will have a detrimental effect on your childrens feet as they have to work the muscles
in the feet extra hard to stabilize them. One way to double check how the shoe
is fitting is to take out the original insole from the sneaker and have your
child stand on it. If there is no space after the longest toe, it is too small.
If their foot is overflowing it is too narrow. - Ensure the shoe has lots of support. The key
areas are the rearfoot (where the heel is). Ensure you cannot push this down or
squeeze it. If this is solid it will help hold the foot properly and help
minimize possible strains/sprains. Secondly you should not be able to fold/bend
the shoe in the middle part. Again this takes away from the stability of the
shoe if you can. Thirdly, the shoe should only bed at the ball of the foot as
this is where the foot bends to propel you forward when walking or running. - I also like cushion on the sole that will help
to prevent injuries from impact. The kids will be doing lots of jumping,
hopping and running.