Soccer cleats for 4 year old

[2Pirates2Princesses]

DS4 will be starting his first season of soccer in a couple weeks and we still need to get him a pair of cleats. This will actually be his first extracurricular/organized activity other than going to a morning preschool program. We are debating if we should purchase him some inexpensive cleats (Walmart has Starter brand for around $10) or buy more expensive ones (Dunham's has Nike cleats for $30-$40)? The reasons for considering the less expensive brand are we don't know if he will stick with soccer or not, I don't imagine that he will be doing anything rigorous this young, and his schedule would only be two days a week (45 min practice one day and 45 min team games the other day) for ten weeks; but we don't want to buy something that won't give him the proper foot support either. Would anyone with experience with this be willing to offer some suggestions? Thanks.

 

[Kellykins1218]

We ought the cheapest ones we could find when my son started and they were just fine. We actually bought the cheapest ones every time he needed a new size, too, and he played just as well as any kid wearing expensive ones and he never had any problems with support. If you pay $30, you are paying for the name.

 

[princess barbara]

I would go cheap as you are not sure if he will even like it. I've borrowed from friends and purchased used from consignment stores when they are that young too. As far as support, as little as he's going to wear the cleats- I wouldn't think it's an issue.

 

[Bnb0627]

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Go cheap! Expensive cleats are not going to make him play any better than the cheaper ones lol. I have found brand new Nikes with the tag on them for $5 at consignment stores.

 

[leslie826]

I say cheap and/or used too! So many 4 year olds play soccer and then decide they don't like it or their feet grow in a month. Lots of them at consignment stores around here.

 

[abcboys]

Around here at that age soccer cleats are not even required. Regular tennis shoes will do. If they are required I would do the cheap ones def. at that age.

 

[Diegosmom]

You could also go with a name brand for around $20. We just bought DS cleats last night at Play It again Sports (but they were new in the box) for $20. They sell used stuff there but also have some new stuff that they stock. I also priced out shoe carnival and they were also around $20 and this weekend they have a 25% off friends and family coupon.

I wont go too cheap cause they might not be comfortable. At 4 we had a hard time getting DS to keep them on (and they were Nike, I can only imagine if they were cheap ones).

Also in our area everyone buys there kids cleats even for U4. They say you can play in sneakers but all the kids have them. DS had to do first 2 practices with sneakers cause he out grew the other ones and we hadnt had a chance to buy him new ones. I tried to talk him into just wearing sneakers all season...but since everyone on the team has them he wants them too...

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

You could also go with a name brand for around $20. We just bought DS cleats last night at Play It again Sports (but they were new in the box) for $20. They sell used stuff there but also have some new stuff that they stock. I also priced out shoe carnival and they were also around $20 and this weekend they have a 25% off friends and family coupon.

I wont go too cheap cause they might not be comfortable. At 4 we had a hard time getting DS to keep them on (and they were Nike, I can only imagine if they were cheap ones).

Also in our area everyone buys there kids cleats even for U4. They say you can play in sneakers but all the kids have them. DS had to do first 2 practices with sneakers cause he out grew the other ones and we hadnt had a chance to buy him new ones. I tried to talk him into just wearing sneakers all season...but since everyone on the team has them he wants them too...

I guess I need to shop around somewhat then. We don't have Shoe Carnival out my way but I think I have heard of Play it Again. I also should check out the consignment stores too.

 

[regdent]

With my sons baseball and soccer cleats i have had great luck at goodwill or other used stores. I have found the good name brands adidas and nike there all the time, and they look new. What size is your son's foot? I may have some adidas you can have if you want to pay shipping from CA.

My son was all into soccer for about 6 months now its basketball.

 

[shoney]

I would go with cheap ones, too. My younger son lasted 3 games and hated it!

 

[mjkacmom]

We are a big soccer family, and all of mine started with cheap/hand me downs. Dd14 plays on the HS team now, so his are pretty expensive, ds10 plays rec, travel, and club, so his are expensive, and poor dd10 just got her first pair of new cleats for Christmas (she always got hand me downs from her brothers).

DH goes out of his way to give our old cleats away (he coaches both 10 year old's travel teams).

 

[Styx Fan]

Another vote for cheap. We always bought cleats for our kids at local sporting goods stores, but the cheap ones. They always had a good selection of cheapies. For the limited amount of time the little ones wear them, cheap worked fine. Don't forget they get lots of padding from the bulky soccer socks. DD9 usually wears them that cost around $15 on sale.

When DS16 started soccer at 4, the vast majority of cleats at all sizes were black. Now they come in all kinds of cool colors. Sadly, when last I checked the cheapies were still almost all black, maybe with a bit of pink or white. As DS spent more and more time in cleats, we started spending more money and replacing them more frequently. He know gets around 2 pair per year (spring and fall seasons) and the last pair was around $100 (Thanks Grandma!).

When buying now don't forget to try them on with the socks and plan on going up at least a size. They always seem to run small. And some shin guards have a part that fits around the ankle and around the foot.

And just an fyi that was news to me when we bought them the first time, soccer cleats are definitely different than football or baseball cleats. Baseball cleats have an extra cleat on the toe area that is missing in soccer. There is a lot of feet being stepped on in soccer. You can wear soccer for baseball, but not vice-versa.

 

[sfbntpc]

Most places also require shin guards. My son is 4 and we started our 4th season of soccer a few weeks ago, and luckily his cleats from last season fit! We bought ours at Dicks Sporting Goods (not sure if they are in your area). They do a package that includes a ball, shin guards and cleats and are available in Nike, Adidas, and Umbro. I do think Adidas cleats are wider, which my son needs, but have not looked at Walmart.

 

[ICF]

The cheapest you can find....at that age it doesnt really matter....and they will outgrow them likely before the following season.

 

[2Pirates2Princesses]

Thank you for the feedback everyone. I really appreciate it!

 

[Diegosmom]

Play it again sports also had used cleats for $7.99 but they didnt have any in DS size or condition I was willing to pay for. The women working there said they were really running low on smaller sizes. I think I went to late since in my area most leagues started 2 weeks ago...

And ditto to the Dicks deal I think it is $34.99 for the 3. We didnt need the ball or shin guards so we didnt go the route.

 

[wallawallakids]

I agree with the cheap. Soccer gets expensive as they get older....no point in spending more then necessary in the beginning!

Also sports stores usually sell a little kid set, like the one I saw someone mention that Dicks has. We went to Olympia sports and bought our twins' set there. I think it was 35 or so. It was a ball, shin pads, soccer socks and cleats. It was much less then buying everything separate. We have yet to have been able to hand down soccer cleats. My oldest DS destroys them. He plays year round now and we are often buying several pairs a year.

 

[tnp2be]

Where I live, at that age soccer cleats are not mandatory. Regular tennis shoes are ok to wear. I personally recommend cleats but for that age group the least expensive pair will be just fine. Have fun, as I love watching my boys play sports.

 

[Tree]

Dont spend big bucks on cleats when they are too little.

Famous footwear has a 15% off coupon an they have some cleats on sale.

Payless also has a sales 15 off of $25 as well

 

[pumpkinmomma]

I agree with the cheap. Soccer gets expensive as they get older....no point in spending more then necessary in the beginning!

Also sports stores usually sell a little kid set, like the one I saw someone mention that Dicks has. We went to Olympia sports and bought our twins' set there. I think it was 35 or so. It was a ball, shin pads, soccer socks and cleats. It was much less then buying everything separate. We have yet to have been able to hand down soccer cleats. My oldest DS destroys them. He plays year round now and we are often buying several pairs a year.

I think Academy also has similar deals. We needed shin guards and a ball, so the package deals worked out best for us.

I agree, go cheap at this age. Make sure you try them on your kid and see that they don't rub anywhere, but other than that, it really doesn't matter what you spend. At best you will get a season or two of wear out of them before they are outgrown. No point in buying expensive cleats until they get older.