Youth Baseball Cleats

Cleats are an extremely useful during baseball games. Your child may be running; he may be standing still.He may even be sliding to get to base before he's out. That means you’ll want to take your time in choosing them and making sure they need to do everything you need them to do.

On the fun side of things, the color selection for youth baseball cleats is pretty outstanding. If solid-colored leather uppers aren’t your child’s thing, Zephz has a pair with white synthetic uppers and pick-a-color inserts.

Youth League Requirements

You will want to check with your child’s baseball league to see what the requirements are for the youth baseball cleats. Most leagues don’t allow metal cleats; others may. They will be able to assist you with the specific guidelines. Double-check with them first before shopping for cleats.

The height of the shoe is up to your child. Some people favor the taller height for the ankle support; others feel too constricted by the extra material and prefer the lower upper.

Comparing Prices

Youth baseball cleats can come from a multitude of companies and quite a few different stores! It’s best to be informed ahead of time on the prices before you make a purchase. You can go to BizRate.com to check prices on name brand baseball cleats like Nike, Reebok, and Under Amour Leadoff.

Eastbay has a substantial collection of youth baseball cleats, too! They come in colors like red, teal, blue, and black.

Line Drive has a few sets of cleats to choose from.

On average, youth baseball cleats seem to cost between $15.00 and $40.00.

Keeping Kids’ Cleats Clean

You may not be shelling out a ton of money for the cleats, but you want to get as much mileage out of them as possible, right? Because of the nature of baseball fields and the materials the shoes are made of (usually leather uppers, but sometimes synthetic), you’ll need to take a few steps to keep their looks and performance top-notch.

• Skip the washing machine. Clean your kids’ cleats by hand.

• As you’ve probably done with countless sneakers before, slap the cleats together to knock off the loose dirt.

• When the youth baseball cleats have been used on a dry field as opposed to a muddy one, you’ll probably be okay to just wipe them off with a slightly wet cloth.

• If they’ve been in the mud, you can do a deeper clean by soaking them—again, don’t put them in the washer, no matter how convenient it sounds.

• Care for them as you would other leather shoes—polish and buff.

• Air dry.

Voila! You now have clean shoes. Now send your kid out to dirty them up again while you sit back and watch a movie.

Children’s Foot Issues to Keep in Mind

Children’s feet grow quickly, so remember, you’ll be buying quite a few pairs of youth baseball cleats.

Make sure your youth baseball cleats have sufficient arch support and aren’t too small. You may want to check with a podiatrist to make sure your child’s feet are normal and not likely to be damaged by the sport of choice. The American Academy of Podiatric Sports Medicine recommends rubber cleats for children who haven’t yet reached their teens. Prior to the teenage years, metal cleats are actually not recommended at all. Rubber cleats aren’t really recommended for children under ten years of age but if the child needs them for sports, they should still be fine.

The keys are: make sure they fit and meet the league requirements, and make sure your son or daughter has fun!