Youth Football Cleats That Fit Orthotics: From Flag and Pop Warner to Varsity

Football is a sport of cuts, collisions and hard plants, and a young player's feet take most of the strain. His cleat grips the ground so he can change direction. If it grips too hard, the knee and ankle pay for it. Linemen need something different from receivers. And the cleat he picks in the store is usually the one his favorite player wears, in a size that will be short by October. This guide is for parents of boys from flag football and youth tackle through varsity. It covers what the injury research shows and which cleats grip too hard. It also explains how to choose a cleat for a wide, narrow, flat or high-arched foot. Finally, it shows how to fit a custom orthotic inside it.

Your daughter plays flag football? Read our guide to girls' flag football cleats. For every sport a high-school boy plays, see our varsity guide for boys.

What the Research Shows About Young Players

Shankar and colleagues (2007) studied a season of high-school and college football across the country. High-school players were hurt at 4.36 injuries for every 1,000 practices and games in that study. Games were far riskier than practices. High-school players had a larger share of fractures and concussions than college players. 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. Joseph and colleagues (2013) found that boys' football had the second-highest rate of anterior cruciate ligament tears of nine high-school sports, behind only girls' soccer.

Younger players get hurt too, and flag football is not injury-free. Peterson and colleagues (2017) followed 3,794 players in second through seventh grade in three youth leagues. In that study, injuries were more likely per game or practice in the flag league than in the tackle leagues. Severe injuries and concussions did not differ much between the two. Running, cutting and falling hurt young players whether or not anyone tackles them.

Ankle Braces Work in Football

McGuine and colleagues (2012) randomized 2,081 high-school football players to lace-up ankle braces or none for a season. The braced players had less than half the rate of acute ankle injuries in that trial. The braces did not change knee injuries, for better or worse. For a boy who has sprained an ankle, a lace-up brace in every practice and game does more than any cleat. For a boy who has not, it is still reasonable. Read our guides on ankle sprains and strengthening after a sprain.

Cleats That Grip Too Hard

The cleat research points at one thing a parent can control: how hard the shoe grips the ground. Lambson and colleagues (1996) followed 3,119 high-school football players for three seasons. The design with longer, irregular studs around the edge of the sole gripped the ground hardest. In that study it also had a much higher rate of anterior cruciate ligament tears than the other designs. 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. The lesson is to match the studs to the surface and skip the longest ones in the store. On artificial turf, a turf shoe or a sole made for turf grips less aggressively than a firm-ground cleat.

Turf also brings turf toe, a sprain at the base of the big toe from bending it back too far. George and colleagues (2014) studied it in college football. In that study, turf toe was more common on artificial turf than on grass. It was also more common in games than in practice. A cleat with a stiffer forefoot limits how far the big toe can bend back. A boy who has had turf toe may need a stiff plate or an orthotic with a stiff forefoot built into it.

Linemen and Skill Players

Positions put different demands on the foot. Linemen are heavier, push off from a stance and plant hard in short bursts. They usually need a wider, deeper and sturdier cleat, often a mid or high cut, with more room for an orthotic. Receivers, backs and defensive backs run and cut. They tend to want a lighter, lower cleat. Lighter is fine if it fits. A thin, narrow skill-position cleat on a big, wide foot is a mismatch we often see at the start of the season. There is no trial showing that a high-cut cleat prevents sprains, so the brace still matters more than the collar.

Heel Pain in a Growing Player

In a boy between about eight and fourteen, heel pain is usually 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) found 3.7 cases for every 1,000 registered patients aged six to seventeen in Dutch family practices. Summer conditioning on hard fields, sprints in thin cleats and a growth spurt all aggravate it. James and colleagues (2016) randomized 124 children with this heel pain to a heel raise or a ready-made orthotic. Every group had improved about the same amount by the end of the year in that trial. A cushioned heel cup in the cleat, calf stretches and trainers for conditioning days help most boys keep playing. Read more about heel pain that won't go away.

What to Look For in a Youth Football Cleat

Proper fit comes first. 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. Measure both feet each season and fit the longer one. Leave about a thumb's width of room past the longest toe with his game socks on.

• Molded studs. Most youth leagues require them. They are also the right choice on turf.
• Moderate stud length. Skip the longest studs and the edge-heavy designs that grip hardest.
• A firm heel counter. Squeeze the back of the cleat. It should hold its shape.
• A cut that fits his position and his heel. Mid or high for many linemen, low for many skill players.
• A removable insole. Lift it in the store. A glued insole makes an orthotic harder to fit.

Getting an Orthotic Into a Football Cleat

Football cleats, especially lineman cleats, are deeper than soccer cleats, and many have an insole that lifts out. A slim orthotic often fits, and a full-length device will fit some lineman cleats. A bulky device lifts the heel out of the counter, which is a recipe for blisters. Bring the cleats to the fitting. If the insole is glued, we can often build the device to sit on a thinned insole.

A flat foot alone is not a reason for an orthotic. Wenger and colleagues (1989) followed 129 children with flexible flat feet in 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 earns its place in a football cleat when there is a problem to treat. Heel pain, turf toe, an arch that aches after practice 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 football cleats come in one width. Nike sells a wide version of its Alpha Menace Shark for big kids. Under Armour sells a wide version of its Spotlight Hammer Jr. We found no youth football cleat from New Balance.

Narrow Feet

A narrow foot slides in a cleat built for a broad one. Lace to the top eyelet with a heel-lock loop, and choose a firm heel counter and a snug midfoot.

Flat Feet

A flexible flat foot is common 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 on tiptoe needs an examination.

High Arches

A high-arched foot lands hard on the heel and the ball of the foot, and it rolls outward more easily. Choose a roomy instep, a cushioned heel cup and studs that are not too long, and wear the brace.

Loose Ankles

A lace-up brace in every practice and game. The evidence in football is as good as it gets for a piece of equipment.

Youth Football 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 Feet

• Nike Alpha Menace Shark (big kids'): sold in a regular and a wide version on Nike's site.
• Under Armour Spotlight Hammer Jr.: sold in a wide version, the only youth wide football cleat we found from Under Armour.

Average and Narrow Feet

• Nike Vapor (big kids'): a light cleat in one width.
• adidas Adizero Impact (kids'): one width, in what adidas calls a regular fit.

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.
• Check the league's cleat rules before buying.
• Put his orthotic in the new cleat at the store. If his heel lifts, try another cleat.
• Buy the ankle brace before the first practice if he has ever sprained an ankle.
• Check the studs. Worn studs change how the foot lands, and long new studs grip harder than you think.
• Ask about heel pain, turf toe and black toenails. Boys tend to hide all three.

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. A big toe that is swollen and stiff after it bent back on a play needs an examination. So does pain on the top of the foot that gets worse as he runs. A knee that gave way or swelled after a cut needs a sports medicine exam the same week. 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 sports injuries page covers how we treat them.

More reading: everyday athletic shoes for kids and telling a broken toe from a sprain.