Boys' Soccer Cleats That Fit Orthotics: From the First Rec Season to Varsity

Most boys start soccer before they can tie a shoe, and many play it all year by middle school. That makes the soccer cleat the shoe we talk about most with parents. It is thin and narrow, it often has a glued-in insole, and its studs sit directly under a growing heel. This guide is for parents of boys from the first rec season through varsity. It covers what the research on young soccer players shows and the heel pain that turns up every August. It also explains how to pick a cleat for a wide, narrow, flat or high-arched foot, and when a custom orthotic fits in a cleat.

Shopping for a daughter? Read our guide to girls' soccer cleats. For every sport a high-school boy plays, see our varsity guide for boys. A teenager already in men's sizes can also use our men's soccer cleat guide.

What the Research Shows About Young Soccer Players

Soccer is demanding on growing legs. Brant and colleagues (2019) compared leg and foot injuries across eight high-school sports that boys and girls both play. Soccer had the highest rate of those injuries for both sexes in that study. For boys it was 11.68 injuries for every 10,000 times a player took the field for a practice or a game. That is a small risk on any single day, but a season contains many practices and games.

The encouraging part is that a warm-up can change those numbers more than any cleat can. Rössler and colleagues (2018) tested a warm-up program called 11+ Kids with 3,895 players under thirteen in four countries. Their teams swapped their usual warm-up for the program. Over one season, injuries fell by 48 percent in that trial. Severe injuries fell by 74 percent and leg injuries by 55 percent in the same trial. Beaudouin and colleagues (2019) looked only at the serious injuries from that trial. Severe foot and toe injuries were 80 percent lower in the warm-up group in that study. Zarei and colleagues (2020) ran the program with 962 boys on high-level teams in Iran. Injuries dropped by half in that trial. Ask your son's coach whether the team uses a structured warm-up.

Heel Pain at the Start of the Season

Heel pain is a common reason young soccer players end up in a podiatrist's office. In a boy between about eight and fourteen, it is usually not plantar fasciitis. It is irritation of the growth plate at the back of the heel. That is where the Achilles tendon pulls on bone that has not finished growing. Wiegerinck and colleagues (2014) counted it in Dutch family practices. They found 3.7 cases for every 1,000 registered patients aged six to seventeen, and they thought the true number was higher.

Soccer aggravates it in three ways. The season often starts on hard summer fields. The cleat has almost no cushion under the heel, and the studs press into the sore spot. And a growth spurt tightens the calf, which pulls harder on the growth plate. James and colleagues (2016) randomized 124 children with this heel pain to a heel raise or a ready-made orthotic, with or without new shoes. The heel raise had a small early edge in that trial. By the end of the year, every group had improved about the same amount. In the office, that means a soft heel cup in the cleat, calf stretches, a cushioned trainer for some practices, and patience. Most boys continue playing. Heel pain with swelling, a morning limp or night pain needs an examination. Read more about heel pain that won't go away.

What to Look For in a Youth Soccer Cleat

Start with length, because a growing boy is often in a cleat that is too short or too big. Klein and colleagues (2009) measured 858 preschool children and their shoes in Austria. Most wore shoes that were too short, and short shoes were associated with a big toe that angled outward. The opposite mistake is common in soccer: buying a size up to grow into. A long cleat lets the foot slide, which causes blisters and black toenails. The studs also stop lining up with the correct part of the foot. Measure both feet each season and fit the longer one. With his game socks on, he needs about a thumb's width of room past his longest toe.

• A firm heel counter. Squeeze the back of the cleat. It should hold its shape and keep the heel down.
• A soft upper over the widest part of the foot. Leather and soft knits give a little. Stiff synthetic uppers do not.
• Molded studs matched to the field. Firm-ground studs for grass, an artificial-grass sole for newer turf, and a turf shoe with short rubber nubs for older turf and many practices.
• A removable insole. Lift it in the store. Many cleats have it glued in, which makes an orthotic harder to fit.
• Laces, not a slip-on collar. Laces let you open the cleat for a wide or high-arched foot.

Traction is the one cleat feature that has been studied for injury, though only in adults. Thomson and colleagues (2015) pooled three studies of nearly 5,000 male athletes in football codes. Players in the shoes that gripped hardest had about 2.5 times the odds of a leg injury in that review. Kaila (2007) found that bladed and round studs put the same load on the knee in professional players. So the shape of the stud matters less than matching the sole to the field. On turf, a turf shoe grips less aggressively than a firm-ground cleat.

Getting an Orthotic Into a Soccer Cleat

The orthotic he wears in his sneakers will not fit most soccer cleats. The cleat is too shallow, and the device lifts his heel out of the counter. What works is a slim device made for the cleat, with a thinner shell, a low heel cup and often a three-quarter length that leaves the toes their room. Bring the cleats to the orthotic fitting, not just the school shoes. If the factory insole is glued in, we can often build the device to sit on a thinned insole. Go up a half size only if the device needs it, and only after he tries it on.

Not every boy with flat feet needs one. Wenger and colleagues (1989) followed 129 children with flexible flat feet. They wore corrective shoes, heel cups, custom inserts or nothing. The arches improved in every group, and the treated children did no better than the untreated ones in that trial. An orthotic does not reshape a growing foot; it is a comfort device. In a soccer player, it earns its place when there is a problem to treat. Heel pain, an arch that aches after games and pain under the ball of the foot all count. See our guide to flat feet in children.

Match the Cleat to Your Son's Foot

Wide Feet

Most youth cleats are cut narrow. New Balance is the exception we found. It sells its youth 442 Team cleat, firm-ground and turf, in standard and wide, and its kids' 442 Academy in medium and wide. Puma describes its youth Future as a regular-to-wide fit in one width. A wide foot in a narrow cleat gets blisters and sore toes, so fit the width before the look.

Narrow Feet

Most youth cleats suit a narrow foot, so the usual trouble is a heel that slips. Lace to the top eyelet with a heel-lock loop, and choose a cleat with a firm heel counter over a sock-style collar.

Flat Feet

A flexible flat foot is common in children and usually does not hurt. If it aches, a firm heel counter and a slim orthotic help more than any cleat sold as supportive. A stiff flat foot that does not form an arch when he stands on his toes needs an examination.

High Arches

A high-arched foot is stiff, so it lands hard on the heel and the ball of the foot and rolls outward more easily. Choose a roomy instep, some padding under the forefoot and studs that are not too long. A cushioned heel cup helps.

Loose Ankles

No cleat can hold an ankle in place, even a high-collar one. A lace-up brace under the sock and a balance program protect it better, and both are covered next.

Ankles, Turf and Playing All Year

Ankle sprains are common in soccer. McGuine and Keene (2006) randomized 765 high-school soccer and basketball players to a balance program or their usual training. The balance group had about half as many sprains in that trial, and a previous sprain doubled the risk. After a sprain, wear a lace-up brace for the rest of the season, and get an exam if the ankle stays swollen. Read our guides on ankle sprains and strengthening after a sprain.

The bigger risk for many boys is volume. Jayanthi and colleagues (2015) compared 822 injured athletes aged seven to eighteen with 368 who were not injured. Training in a single sport was linked to more injuries and more serious overuse injuries in that study. Playing more hours a week than the athlete's age in years was linked to serious overuse injuries as well. A boy on a club team, a school team and a winter futsal team may be in that group. Build in an off-season, or at least a different sport.

Boys' Soccer Cleats to Try

No shoe company pays for placement here. No brand sponsors this article. Every cleat here is our own pick, based on the features above and on what we see in the office.

We do run a separate website, footshop.cc. Patients kept asking where to find the products we talk about in the exam room. So we built a separate site that keeps the links in one place. It includes links to Amazon and other retailers. Every affiliate link over there is disclosed where it appears. If you buy through one of those links, we earn a small commission. It costs you nothing extra. We run it as a convenience for our patients, not as a condition of care. You are free to buy any of these cleats anywhere you like, at whatever price you find, with or without our links. Our advice is the same either way.

Medical footwear is not part of that. Prescription shoes, inserts, boots and braces are never on our affiliate site. They are not a shopping link, and we will not treat them like one.

Wide and Average Feet

• New Balance 442 Team (youth, firm-ground and turf): sold in standard and wide on New Balance's site. The turf version suits hard fields and artificial turf.
• New Balance 442 Academy (kids'): a simpler version, sold in medium and wide at Zappos.
• Puma Future Match (youth): one width, which Puma describes as a regular-to-wide fit.

Average and Narrow Feet

• Nike Tiempo Academy (youth): one width, with a soft, leather-like upper.
• adidas Copa League (kids'): one width, in what adidas calls a regular fit.
• Nike Mercurial (youth): a snug, narrow cleat. Nike suggests going up half a size.

For every cleat on this page, lift the insole in the store. If it comes out and the orthotic sits flat with his heel still inside the counter, you are in business. If it is glued, bring the cleat to our office, and we will design the orthotic around it.

What to Check Every Season

• Measure both feet standing, at the end of the day, in game socks. Fit the longer foot.
• Put his orthotic in the new cleat at the store. If his heel lifts, try another cleat.
• Check the studs. Studs worn down on one side change how the foot lands.
• Ask about heel pain, blisters and black toenails. Boys tend to hide all three.
• If he has sprained an ankle before, buy the brace and start the balance work before the first practice.
• Keep a turf shoe or a trainer in the bag for hard fields and sore heels.

When to See a Podiatrist

Bring him in for heel pain that lasts more than a couple of weeks. A limp, swelling or night pain needs an examination too. Come in after a sprain that is still swollen after a week, or for an ankle that keeps rolling. Pain on the top of the foot that gets worse as he runs needs an examination to rule out a stress injury. So does a toenail that is black, loose or ingrown. If he already wears orthotics and has grown a size, bring the orthotics and his cleats. Our pediatric foot care page explains how we see young athletes. Our custom orthotics page explains how we make devices.

More reading: everyday athletic shoes for kids and foot care for athletes.