Anonymous wrote:This is a thread from a referee forum with most of the participants being from the UK...it talks about the requirements of shin guards or more like the lack there of. I found it interesting. One of the points is that kids don't like to wear shin guards and are trying to get away with anything like these micro shin pads or even sticking newspaper in their socks. Someone posted that he recommends those big shin guard/ankle protector combo things.

Sorry. https://www.refchat.co.uk/threads/micro-shin-pads.20758/

This is a thread from a referee forum with most of the participants being from the UK...it talks about the requirements of shin guards or more like the lack there of. I found it interesting. One of the points is that kids don't like to wear shin guards and are trying to get away with anything like these micro shin pads or even sticking newspaper in their socks. Someone posted that he recommends those big shin guard/ankle protector combo things.

Shinguards are usually required to play or practice. Kind of a no brainer. Now if you're doing speedwork sessions or something, that's different.

Growing up the usual split for ankle protection vs not was whether you were on defense or offense. I don't think anyone cares if you do or don't wear ankle protection.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Teach her to body check people to give them space.

This.

She’s not using her body. She’s reaching for the ball with her foot.

She needs to learn to put a body on them.

No. This is what is wrong with the American soccer. She needs to increase her speed of play- ie get the ball off her foot quicker vs the defenders can get physical with her. This means she must improve her first touch, passing and moving to space.

Do not put her head down and crash in to the defender. This is what the defend wants and leads to the endless wrestling marches that do nothing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t use the slide in shin guards. Get ones that pull up and have the ankle protectors

FYI...No one wears these after 10-11 years old so I wouldn't bother getting these. As a matter of fact, kids don't even wear shin guards to practice after 11-12 years old I'd say. And yes, kids get their foot stepped on ALL the time. Sometimes it's bad. Sometimes it ends up as a bruised foot, a sprained foot, a broken foot. Sometime it's nothing. Kids will get hurt and there's not much you can do about it.

I played soccer through college and kept wearing those types of shinguards. I was never mocked and my ankles never bled.

We were never allowed to practice without shinguards.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t use the slide in shin guards. Get ones that pull up and have the ankle protectors

FYI...No one wears these after 10-11 years old so I wouldn't bother getting these. As a matter of fact, kids don't even wear shin guards to practice after 11-12 years old I'd say. And yes, kids get their foot stepped on ALL the time. Sometimes it's bad. Sometimes it ends up as a bruised foot, a sprained foot, a broken foot. Sometime it's nothing. Kids will get hurt and there's not much you can do about it.

Odd bc my teenage sons and at least half of their team wear them. Their club teams are less strict about policing shin guards, but at their private, no shin guards, no practice. If you miss practice the day before a game, you’re out for the game. Miss more than one game for non-illness or injury and you’ll be bumped down to jv.

Commonly worn on my son's middle school team.

G-Form makes ankle protectors that are less bulky than the old school padded ones. My daughter's teammate had one on her lead ankle while she was getting over an injury: https://www.amazon.com/G-Form-Pro-X-Ankle-Guard-Medium/dp/B07CZD5D8C/

That said spikes to the ankle happen on occasion. It sucks, but using your body to shield and playing better competition will help significantly.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t use the slide in shin guards. Get ones that pull up and have the ankle protectors

FYI...No one wears these after 10-11 years old so I wouldn't bother getting these. As a matter of fact, kids don't even wear shin guards to practice after 11-12 years old I'd say. And yes, kids get their foot stepped on ALL the time. Sometimes it's bad. Sometimes it ends up as a bruised foot, a sprained foot, a broken foot. Sometime it's nothing. Kids will get hurt and there's not much you can do about it.

Odd bc my teenage sons and at least half of their team wear them. Their club teams are less strict about policing shin guards, but at their private, no shin guards, no practice. If you miss practice the day before a game, you’re out for the game. Miss more than one game for non-illness or injury and you’ll be bumped down to jv.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine hates the pull up shin guards w ankle protectors, so we got a separate ankle protector only to go with slide in shin guards.

^^
Can you share what the ankle protector was?

It was mostly a random Amazon search and then narrowed to the ones I thought were more likely to be kid sized (small U12 player). These are the ones I ended up getting:

https://a.co/d/3XJfeOy

Goes under the sock, foot strap doesn’t seem to be an issue. Most of the padding is on the sides, there is some in the front as well.

^^
Thank you!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine hates the pull up shin guards w ankle protectors, so we got a separate ankle protector only to go with slide in shin guards.

^^
Can you share what the ankle protector was?

It was mostly a random Amazon search and then narrowed to the ones I thought were more likely to be kid sized (small U12 player). These are the ones I ended up getting:

https://a.co/d/3XJfeOy

Goes under the sock, foot strap doesn’t seem to be an issue. Most of the padding is on the sides, there is some in the front as well.

Anonymous wrote:Mine hates the pull up shin guards w ankle protectors, so we got a separate ankle protector only to go with slide in shin guards.

^^
Can you share what the ankle protector was?

I had to switch my 9year old daughter's shoe type for this very reason. The lightweight shoes have a very thin uppers and offer no protection (some cleats are as thin as socks and your are more likely to suffer an injury because of this.) My daughter was stepped on a lot by clumsy/ younger players or bullish players who just run through players and step on their feet. We found another cleat with thicker upper padding and it helped a lot. She has been nicked in the ankle bone a lot as she is a dribbler/ ball handler. She has learned to dribble less around some players as a result; and the coaches never seem to care (and these instances are hard to call fouls on).