Melbourne at heart of foot race to design specialised female footy boots

AFLW is an expanding sport, but most of the players are still wearing men’s footy boots because footy boots for women simply don’t exist. But that’s all about to change thanks to a race to provide footwear specifically designed for the female foot.

Abbey Holmes, Chelsea Randall, and Sarah Perkins with XBlades boots. Picture: AAP

Melbourne is at the heart of a foot race to build the ultimate boot for female Australian rules players.

Most AFLW players wear men’s boots — typically buying a size and a half down from their regular runner size.

It is believed women’s boots offer more stability, and it is hoped greater protection against injury.

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Abbey Holmes, Chelsea Randall, and Sarah Perkins with XBlades boots. Picture: AAP

Aside from manufacturer XBlades, which has a boot produced using a mould based on a woman’s foot, female specific boots are scarce.

XBlades chief Leighton Richards said while some global brands had a “shrink it and pink it” philosophy, his Australian company was different.

“It fits better,” Richards said of the female XBlades boot.

“Stability is really important … if you’re wearing a man’s boot, which is typically wider, you may come down a size and a half and fit length but you’re not fitting width, you’ve got too much room left to right.”

Asics will have a prototype female boot ready in six weeks — likely the Lethal Tigreor FF — and it’s expected to be available for the 2020 AFLW season.

And a Melbourne start-up is in the engine room of the revolution. Ida Sports, established by Laura Youngson and Ben Sandhu, will make boots only for women.

They’ve been working on a female boot for 12 months.

Youngson, an amateur soccer player, was sick of having to wear kids boots, which caused blisters and bleeding.

In May her dream will come to fruition when the Ida boot will hit the market.

The boots are a different shape to men’s boots. Sandhu says women tend to have a wider forefoot and a narrower heel and higher arches.

“We’ve corrected for all that,” Sandhu said.

Ben Sandhu and Laura Youngson are making football boots specifically designed for females.

“We’re working with podiatrists and physios and biomechanists, advising us on the best stud placement to have.

“We’re talking to players, understanding their experience and (asking), ‘how do we make that better?’

“ … When you’re wearing a boot that’s made for a man or a boy, often players will have blisters or black toes because women’s and men’s feet are fundamentally different.”

In the AFL’s guidelines on preventing injuries, specifically ACLs, one risk factor listed that can be modified is footwear.

Researcher Kay Crossley, who is leading the AFLW’s research into ACL injuries, said current evidence linking footwear to injury is weak.

“Is it a problem? Potentially. Would I like to do more research on it? Yes,” Crossley said.

“It’s probably one of the hardest areas to look at, the impact of footwear design on injury. Intuitively it might, but we don’t know.”

Asics general manager of product Oceania Mark Doherty said their new boot would be a tighter fit and stop “too much lateral movement”.

“That will hopefully keep a girl from spraining an ankle, they’re able to just twinge it rather than really busting ligament, but that’s just theory,” Doherty said.