Revolutionizing Football Boots for Women: The Rise of IDA Sports and Nike’s Phantom Luna

NOS Voetbal•vandaag, 11:21

Elaine de Zeeuw

reporter in Australia and New Zealand

Elaine de Zeeuw

reporter in Australia and New Zealand

It’s remarkable to say the least. At the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, 32 teams play with 23 players each, but of those 736 players, almost everyone wears football boots designed for men.

The male last is still the standard in the shoe industry, and none of the major manufacturers have ventured to develop a shoe for the female foot in recent decades. With pain and even a greater chance of injury as a result.

Women’s football boots are finally hitting the market

But that now seems to be changing. Nike launched the Phantom Luna. In their own words, a ‘groundbreaking shoe that will change football forever’. Big words, but Nike is not the first. That is IDA Sports in Melbourne.

“The lack of good football boots for women is a problem that needs to be solved,” says Mereki Nieman. “And because none of the existing brands did anything about it, we decided to do it ourselves.”

Nieman is operations manager at the small and young company: IDA Sports was founded in 2020 and the team largely works from a warehouse in a suburb of the Australian city. Their mission: “A good shoe can help women with their performance. We believe that women should have equal access to the right footwear as men.”

NOS

Last month, the European Club Association, an organization that represents professional clubs within UEFA, published a survey of the footwear of 350 players. What seems? 82 percent of soccer players play with pain. One fifth of the players surveyed also indicate that they adjust shoes themselves to reduce complaints, for example by putting an extra sock in them.

For that reason, IDA Sports spent years researching which last really fits women. Nieman pulls the latest model out of a box and routinely explains where the differences with the regular men’s shoe are: “Our shoes have more room at the toes, have higher arches and are tighter around the ankle. We also put a lot of time into the stud pattern It is now more adapted to the pressure points of the female foot, making the shoe turn more easily.”

Cruciate ligament injuries

The call for good football boots also seems greater than ever. Vivianne Miedema, Beth Mead, Marie Antoinette Katoto they are all not at the World Cup because they tore their anterior cruciate ligament. It’s an injury that’s three to five times more common in women than men, simply because their anatomy is different.

“At the moment we are researching how we can reduce the chance of an anterior cruciate ligament injury with the right shoes. It is one of the factors, but we think it can really help.”

NOSDe Jill Roord’s shoes

We do not see the shoes of the small IDA Sports at the World Cup, partly because of ongoing sponsorship contracts for players. The new Phantom Luna from Nike here and there.

The fact that Nike is now the first major brand to also focus on shoes especially for women, Nieman thinks is only a good development. “That means there’s more choice for female athletes, which is exactly what we want.”

Why has it taken so long?

But why has that taken so long? Nieman shrugs hesitantly. “It is difficult to change your entire production line. And I think it has to do with attention. Companies suddenly see a gap in the market due to the World Cup and the growth of women’s football. Apparently it was not the time before, but it’s coming now.”

NOSDe IDA shoe

Yet Jill Roord is the only one who plays football on the shoes at the moment. “I was sent them,” says the player who has a contract with Nike. “I have quite a narrow foot, and most models are a bit wider. These shoes are tight-fitting, so I really like them.”

When asked, Danielle van de Donk indicates that she will not change for the time being: “I am also a bit supersticious, so I wouldn’t be able to change now.” Keeper Daphne van Domselaar is satisfied with her current pair of shoes, but sees the potential: “Also with a view to injuries that occur more often in women. Hopefully we will all be walking on shoes that fit perfectly.”

As Mereki Nieman prepares a stack of boxes in Melbourne for shipment to the United States, she repeats it once again: “The more we can make it clear to women that they don’t have to settle for an ill-fitting shoe, the more we can market will change,” she says. “One foot at a time, but the change has begun.”

2023-07-28 09:21:33
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