Varsity Sports Shoes for Boys That Fit Orthotics: Soccer, Basketball, Baseball, Football, Tennis, Track and the Weight Room

A high-school athlete is the hardest patient we fit. His foot is still growing. He plays two or three sports a year, each in a different shoe. He wears whatever his teammates wear, in whatever size was on the shelf. And when his heel hurts, the adults around him call it growing pains and tell him to stretch. This guide is for that boy and the parent who buys his shoes. It covers what the high-school injury research actually shows about ankles, knees, braces and cleats. It explains why heel pain in a growing athlete is its own problem. And it walks through each varsity sport. It tells you which shoes take a custom orthotic and which do not.

We cover the growing foot first, because it changes every rule below. We cover heel pain, ankles, knees and cleats, with the research behind each. Then we go sport by sport: soccer, basketball, baseball, football, tennis, cross-country and track, golf and the weight room. Each sport has a full men's guide, linked in its section, for the boy already in men's sizes. We have a separate guide for girls, and guides to everyday athletic shoes for kids and flat feet in children. For younger players, each sport also has its own youth guide: soccer, basketball, tennis, pickleball, cross-country and track, baseball, football and volleyball.

A Growing Foot Changes the Rules

A boy's foot can change a full size in a season, and most parents measure it once a year at most. The research on children's shoes is blunt about the result. Klein and colleagues (2009) measured the feet and the shoes of 858 pre-school children in Austria. Most of the children wore indoor shoes that were too short for their feet. A majority wore outdoor shoes that were too short as well. The children in short shoes had a higher risk of a big toe that angled outward. Hollander and colleagues (2017) compared 810 children and adolescents who grew up mostly barefoot with matched children who grew up in shoes. Habitual shoe wearing was linked to a lower arch and a more angled big toe across every age group in that study. The lesson for a varsity athlete is simple. The shoe has to fit the foot he has this season, not the foot he had last fall. It has to leave his toes room to spread.

That matters twice over for a boy with a custom orthotic. The device was molded to a foot of a certain length and arch height. When the foot grows, the arch of the device no longer sits under the arch of the foot. The heel cup no longer holds the heel. A teenager in a sport often needs the orthotic remade or adjusted more than once before he graduates. Bring him in when his shoe size changes, not when the device starts to hurt. And resist hand-me-downs from an older brother. A shoe molds to the first foot that wears it. A cleat that fit the first boy's heel will not fit the second's.

Heel Pain in a Growing Athlete

The most common cause of heel pain in a boy between about eight and fifteen is not plantar fasciitis. It is irritation of the growth plate at the back of the heel. That is where the Achilles tendon and the plantar fascia pull on a piece of bone that has not yet fused. Wiegerinck and colleagues (2014) searched the records of 34 family practices in the Netherlands. The condition was diagnosed in 3.7 of every 1,000 registered patients aged six to seventeen in that study. The authors noted the true number is probably higher. It is the heel pain we see most in soccer and basketball players at the start of a season. Cleats make it worse, because the studs sit right under the sore spot.

The treatment research is thin but useful. James and colleagues (2016) randomized 124 children aged eight to fourteen with this heel pain. They got a heel raise or a prefabricated orthosis, with or without new shoes. At one and two months, the heel raise had a small advantage on a physical-function score in that trial. By six and twelve months, every group had improved and no treatment beat another. In the office, that matches what we do. A soft heel raise or a cushioned heel cup in every shoe, including the cleat. Calf stretching. A shoe with a firm heel counter and some cushion, not a flat thin cleat for every practice. And time. A boy with this heel pain does not need to stop his sport in most cases. He does need someone to confirm that is what it is. Heel pain that does not fit the pattern needs an exam. So does heel pain that comes with swelling, limping or night pain. Read our guide to heel pain that won't go away.

Ankles: What the High-School Research Shows

Nelson and colleagues (2007) reviewed a national sample of high-school sports injuries over a school year. There were an estimated 326,396 ankle injuries nationally in that study. Boys' basketball had the highest rate, followed by girls' basketball and boys' football. Ankle injuries happened at more than twice the rate in competition as in practice, and most were ligament sprains. McKay and colleagues (2001) found three risk factors for an ankle sprain in basketball players. A previous sprain raised the odds almost fivefold, and skipping a warm-up stretch more than doubled them. Shoes with air cells in the heel were linked to about four times the risk in that study.

Two things have been shown to work, and neither is a shoe. McGuine and colleagues (2011) randomized 1,460 high-school basketball players to lace-up ankle braces or none for a season. In that trial, the braced group had an acute ankle injury rate of 0.47 per 1,000 exposures compared with 1.41 in the control group. The protection held whether or not the player had been sprained before. McGuine and colleagues (2012) ran the same trial in 2,081 high-school football players. The braced group's rate was 0.48 compared with 1.12 in that trial, with no difference in knee injuries. McGuine and Keene (2006) randomized 765 high-school soccer and basketball players to a balance-training program or standard conditioning. The program roughly halved the sprain rate in that trial, and a previous sprain doubled the risk. Dizon and Reyes (2010) pooled seven trials and found braces cut sprain risk by about 69 percent in previously injured athletes.

The shoe itself has not been shown to prevent a sprain. Barrett and colleagues (1993) randomized 622 players to high-top, low-top or air-chambered high-top basketball shoes and found no significant difference in ankle sprains. So the hierarchy for a boy with a loose ankle is this. A lace-up brace under the sock in every court and field sport. A balance program, which takes a few minutes a day. A firm, low, wide shoe. And a proper exam after any sprain. Gribble and colleagues (2016) found that sprains recur often and a large share of people go on to chronic ankle instability. Read our guides on ankle sprains and strengthening after a sprain.

Knees and Cleats

Swenson and colleagues (2013) reviewed six seasons of high-school knee injuries. Football had the highest knee injury rate of any sport in that study. Knee injuries were more than three times as common in competition as in practice. The cleat research points at one modifiable factor: how hard the shoe grips the ground. Lambson and colleagues (1996) followed 3,119 high-school football players for three seasons. The cleat design with longer studs around the edge of the sole gripped the ground hardest. In that study it also had a significantly higher rate of anterior cruciate ligament tears than the other designs. Thomson and colleagues (2015) pooled three prospective studies of nearly 5,000 male athletes in football codes. The high-traction group had about 2.5 times the odds of a lower-limb injury in that review. For a boy, that means studs matched to the surface, never the longest ones in the store, and a turf shoe or artificial-grass sole on turf.

One Orthotic, Five Pairs of Shoes

A varsity boy with a custom orthotic owns a school shoe, a running or training shoe, a court shoe and a cleat. Often he owns a weight-room shoe too. The device does not fit all of them the same way. Here is the honest map:

• School and everyday trainers: yes. Deep, removable insole, plenty of width options. The device lives here most hours of the day.
• Running and cross-training shoes: yes. Nearly every one has a removable insole, though no maker says so on the page. Pull it out in the store.
• Court shoes (basketball, tennis): usually. Deep enough, but the snug midfoot can pinch a bulky device. A slimmer device often works better.
• Cleats (soccer, baseball, football): sometimes, with a slim three-quarter device built for the cleat. Many insoles are glued. Bring the cleat to the fitting.
• Raised-heel lifting shoes: no, in most cases. Too shallow, and the heel wedge already does what a heel lift would do. The device stays in the flat training shoe.
• Track spikes and racing flats: no. Too thin. Save the device for warm-ups and training miles.

Is the device worth the juggling? Bonanno and colleagues (2017) pooled randomized trials of foot orthoses for injury prevention, mostly in young military recruits. In that review, contoured orthoses lowered the risk of overall injuries and stress fractures, with a relative risk of 0.72 for all injuries. Flat shock-absorbing insoles did not. Those were not high-school athletes, so this is supporting evidence, not proof. In the office, three groups of boys get the most out of a device. Those with heel pain. Those with a flat foot that collapses on the plant. And those with pain under the ball of the foot.

Sport by Sport

Soccer

The thinnest, narrowest shoe he owns, and the one most likely to aggravate heel pain. Choose a leather or soft-knit boot with the studs matched to the surface, and a turf or artificial-grass sole for practice on turf. A slim orthotic built for the cleat is possible; a full device is not. In youth sizes, New Balance sells its 442 Team cleat, firm-ground and turf, in standard and wide; most other youth cleats run narrow. A boy with a wide foot who has outgrown youth sizes can move into men's sizes, where New Balance sells several lines in a 2E. Full details in our soccer cleat guide.

Basketball

The highest ankle-injury rate of any boys' sport in the national data. A lace-up brace under the sock is the single most useful piece of equipment he can own. Choose a low, firm, wide shoe with a locked heel, not the tallest collar or the softest foam. Almost no basketball shoe is sold in a wide; the workaround is a roomy toe box, the thick factory insole removed, and a slimmer orthotic. Full details in our basketball shoe guide.

Baseball

Most high-school leagues allow metal spikes, and many boys switch to them the first year they can. For a boy with heel pain, a stiff big toe or an orthotic, molded cleats spread the load better and are the kinder choice. Turf trainers belong in the bag for practice and the cage. New Balance sells its baseball cleats in a wide, in men's sizing. Sliding is the signature injury; practice it before the season. Full details in our baseball cleat guide.

Football

The highest knee-injury rate of any sport in the high-school data, and the second-best evidence for ankle braces. Wear the brace. Choose a cleat with studs matched to the surface, not the edge-cleat designs that gripped hardest in the Lambson study. On artificial turf, a turf shoe or an artificial-grass sole grips less than a firm-ground cleat. Linemen and heavier boys usually need a wider, deeper cleat than the lightweight skill-position models.

Tennis

A court shoe, not a running shoe. Tennis is kinder to a wide foot than most court sports, because New Balance, ASICS and K-Swiss sell court shoes in widths, in men's sizing. A court shoe usually takes a full orthotic, though the snug midfoot can pinch a bulky one. Full details in our tennis shoe guide.

Cross-Country and Track

The running shoe is the easiest shoe to fit an orthotic into. The brands that sell real widths are listed in our running shoe guide. Two rules matter more for a teenager than for an adult. First, rotate two pairs. Malisoux and colleagues (2015) followed 264 recreational runners for 22 weeks. Those who ran in more than one pair of shoes had a lower injury risk in that study. Second, keep spikes and racing flats for races and hard workouts only. They are too thin for a device, and a growing heel does not want to log its training miles in them. Lace to the top eyelet with a heel-lock loop. Hagen and Hennig (2009) found that firm seven-eyelet lacing lowered loading rates and heel pressure in runners with no loss of comfort.

Golf

Golf shoes are shallow and the orthotic question is its own topic. We wrote a full guide for varsity golf boys, including which spiked and spikeless shoes take a device. It also carries the honest news that no junior golf shoe comes in a wide width.

The Weight Room

Every varsity program lifts now. A flat, firm, closed training shoe with a removable insole is the right tool for a teenager, and the orthotic goes in it. Raised-heel lifting shoes change the squat, as Legg and colleagues (2017) and others showed in adult lifters. No study has tested them in adolescents, and the device does not fit in them. Keep the lifting shoe for later, if at all. Sandals, slides and socks do not belong under a barbell.

Widths for Teen Boys

Here is the honest state of the market. Youth sizes stop around a men's six and a half or seven, and most varsity boys are in men's sizes by sophomore year. That is good news for a wide foot, because the men's widths in each sport guide above apply. In true youth sizes, New Balance says its wide kids' shoes add about a half inch of width. It also sells a youth softball cleat in standard and wide. New Balance also sells its youth 442 Team soccer cleat in standard and wide. We found no youth basketball shoe or golf shoe in a wide. Buldt and Menz (2018) reviewed the research on shoe fit. In that review, between 63 and 72 percent of people wore shoes that did not match the length or width of their feet. Poor fit was linked to foot pain and toe problems. Menz and Morris (2005) linked shoes narrower than the foot to corns, bunions and foot pain. A boy who grows a half size midseason is wearing a shoe that is too short for the second half of it.

Varsity Sports Shoes for Boys to Try

No shoe company pays for placement here. No brand sponsors this article. Every shoe 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 shoes 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.

Everyday and Training

• Brooks Ghost: a neutral running shoe sold in narrow, medium, wide and extra-wide, with a flat footbed and a firm counter. The shoe we suggest first for school, practice and the weight room.
• New Balance 880: a neutral daily trainer sold in narrow, standard, 2E and 4E. Deep enough for a full-length device.

Court

• New Balance 996 and New Balance 796: court shoes sold in standard and wide for tennis, and a steadier choice than a running shoe for any court sport.
• Under Armour Curry: a low, firm basketball shoe in a regular fit. Pair it with a lace-up brace, not a taller collar.

Cleats

• New Balance 442 (soccer): a leather boot sold in a 2E through specialty soccer retailers. The easiest cleat to break in and the roomiest over a slim device.
• New Balance 4040 (baseball, molded): sold in standard and EE. The molded sole is the kinder choice for a sore heel.

For every shoe 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 shoe to us and we will build to it.

What to Check Every Season

• Measure both feet standing, at the end of the day, and buy for the longer one. A thumb's width of room at the toe.
• Put the orthotic in every new shoe at the store. If the heel lifts, the shoe is wrong for that device.
• Replace the orthotic's fit when the shoe size changes, not when it hurts.
• Check the cleats before the first practice. Studs worn flat on one side change how the foot lands.
• Buy the brace before the season if he has ever sprained an ankle. Start the balance program at the same time.
• Ask about heel pain, black toenails and blisters. Teenagers hide all three.

When to See a Podiatrist

Bring him in for heel pain that lasts more than a couple of weeks, or that comes with limping, swelling or night pain. Bring him in after any ankle sprain that is still swollen after a week, or any ankle that has rolled more than once. Come in for pain under the ball of the foot or a toenail that is black and loose. Come in for a shoe that causes pain that does not settle after a few practices. If he already wears orthotics and has grown a size, bring the orthotics and every shoe he plays in. Our page on custom orthotics explains how we make them, and our guide on how custom orthotics work covers the rest.

For more, read our guides to everyday athletic shoes for kids and foot care for athletes. If you are shopping for a daughter, see our varsity guide for girls.