West United Soccer

There have been a number of parents that have purchased shoes that are not soccer approved. We thought we would post what is approved to help make sure you get the right equipment so your child can play.

It is against the rules to play with cleats that are not soccer approved. So, what is the difference between Soccer shoes and other sports cleats, like football or baseball? Aren't they all the same?

Actually, there's a very small difference, but effects the safety of the players, and this is a very important question. It will determine if your child will actually be permitted to play when it comes to game day. The referee will perform a cleat check and will recognize the difference and is not required to allow anyone to play that doesn't have safe equipment.Many other shoes require the topping and starting with your toe, like a track runner starting out of the gate, or a football player starting from the hunched position, or a bassball player, having to grip well on the dirt running the bases. But his is not the case in soccer.

So, a football and baseball shoe has a cleat at the point of the toe. A soccer cleat will not. It exists for the football player so they may grip in to the ground from a hunched position. However, if the football shoe is worn during a soccer game, this toe cleat can do a lot of damage to another player, scraping or puncturing someone, hurting them very badly.

When purchasing shoes, make sure it doesn't have a toe cleat and it's sold in the soccer secton of your local store.There are different soccer shoes too;those for outdoor use on the field, called cleats, and those for indoor use called indoor soccer shoes that don't have any spikes on them, they look like regular tennis shoes, but lighter and stronger on the heals. The indoor soccer shoes can be purchased and used out of on the field, but it's guaranteed that the player will slip and fall when playing because they have no traction. The indoor shoes are made for both hard floors and turf floors.All specialty shoes are designed with the sport in mind.

If you buy a baseball shoe for both baseball and soccer in order to save money, you will find problems with how the design of the baseball shoe is made for soccer. The baseball shoe has taller and more pointy cleats, which also includes a toe cleat. The soccer cleat has from 8-15 cleats and are round and stubby. NO SPIKES! The intent is to give just enough traction to not fall when making fast turns or stops.We hope this has been helpful, if you have any questions, please post them and we'll answer them. We want to make sure you have the right equipment to play, and the safety of your child and the other players is accounted for.