When I first reviewed the IDA Sports Classica women’s soccer cleats, my biggest issue was the styling. IDA must have heard me because their newly unveiled 2024 line of women’s soccer cleats and shoes is a huge improvement and now offers a sleeker, fresher look.
For those of you hearing about IDA Sports for the first time, they are the first company to exclusively design women’s-specific soccer cleats and shoes, which is an amazing step forward in the world of women’s sports.
I tested the 2024 Classicas out at my most recent soccer game, and just like the original version, they were comfortable from the moment I stepped onto the field. In this review, I’ll share my honest thoughts on IDA Sports women’s soccer cleats, and you can decide if they are right for you–or the female soccer player in your life.
What’s The Big Deal About Women-Specific Soccer Cleats?
It’s somewhat of a rhetorical question. And here’s some backstory behind it. Before IDA was really established, they approached the big-name brands in soccer to collaborate on creating a line of cleats designed specifically for a woman’s foot anatomy. Those big-named brands turned IDA away, noting that the women’s soccer cleat market simply wasn’t big enough for them to invest their dollars.
Most people aren’t aware, but the big-name soccer brands never actually offered soccer cleats made specifically for women’s feet. Sure, you could go into most soccer or sporting goods stores and find what appeared to be girls and women’s soccer cleats. After all, they were pink and labeled “women’s” and “girls.”
What you probably didn’t know is that the design of those cleats was based on the last, or mold, of a male foot. Once those soccer manufacturers made men’s cleats, they pretty much “shrinked and pinked” them to create their women’s and girls lines.
If you’re an older woman soccer player like myself, you’ll recall the ill-fitted jerseys we wore that were designed for boys and men. The concept is similar to wearing men’s cleats, but having anatomically appropriate shoes is even more important than a jersey. Ill-fitted jerseys are extremely annoying. But ill-fitted soccer cleats can cause foot and toe pain, blisters, ankle injuries, and potentially even cause ACL tears and strains.
Differences In Male Versus Female Foot Anatomy
The key differences between men’s feet and women’s feet are in our foot and arch shape. The width of our toe box (the span from our big toe to our pinky toe) in comparison to the narrowness our heel width is more pronounced than in a man’s foot. It creates a triangular shape, as you can see in the diagram below.
Besides the actual shape of the foot, women tend to have higher arches than men (unless you’re a no arches anomaly like me!). Additionally, women have wider hips than men, which distributes weight differently on our feet than men’s. Those wider hips are also one of the contributing factors to ACL injuries.
IDA Sports Women’s Soccer Cleat Design
Now that you understand a woman’s versus a man’s foot anatomy, you’ll appreciate the thoughtfulness in IDA’s design of women’s soccer cleats and shoes. These are the features in IDA boots:
- More toe room: Because women have a wider spread across their toes, IDA designs their cleats with a roomier toe box.
- Narrower heel: IDA designs their heels to be narrower which it says creates less slippage and more stability.
- More arch support: Since most women have higher arches than men, IDA cleats additional arch support (and it’s removable). IDA says this feature helps keep the ankle from collapsing inward.
- Unique stud placement and design: IDA considers where women’s weight loads pressure on the feet in the placement of its studs on the shoe sole. Optimal placement reduces potential foot pain from increased pressure. Additionally, the studs are conical and shorter, an intentional design to prevent “sticking” when planting and pivoting–which can contribute to ACL tears.
The IDA Women’s Soccer Cleat Wear Test
Now that all the other stuff is out of the way, how do the IDA Sports women’s soccer cleats actually feel, look, and perform? Let’s get into it.
The Look
I chose the all white IDA Sports Classica (firm ground) cleats for my 2024 review. The solid black look sweet as well, but it’s been ages since I’ve had a white pair, so I decided to change it up.
As I said earlier, IDA stepped it up a big notch on the design. While my old Classicas are comfy, they won’t win any style awards. The 2024 Classicas are minimalistic in their design, which I like. The gold IDA logo gives the cleats a little bit of pop, without being pretentious.
The Classicas are IDAs only leather boot option. They’ve also transitioned from kangaroo leather to calf leather to make their cleats more accessible since they can’t ship k-leather to certain states.
There’s additional stitching throughout the boot, which should help them last even longer (which means your duct tape can stay in the drawer longer). The cleat placement and design remains the same from the prior model from what I can tell.
You’ll see a cute message on the soles that says, “You Got This.” I double-checked my old pair and the message was on them, too, but I just didn’t notice it before.
The rest of the 2024 line got a refresh, too. The color combinations include teal, purple, blue, black, and white. Besides the Classicas, IDAs styles include the Rise and Spirit. The Rise are made from TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane), which is a plastic, but it has more of a rubbery flex to it. The Rise Elite has a built-in sock if you want extra snugness.
IDA also introduced a Rise turf cleat this year. The lack of a turf cleat was a huge gap in their line, so it’s nice to see this addition.
The Feel
Enough about how the IDAs look. The most important is how they feel!
First, I’ll tell you I have an average width foot with low arches, and I play on both turf and grass (if you can call it that–more like weeds). I’ve had issues with Pumas pinching my toes and making them feel numb. Nike’s made my arches ache. Adidas probably fit me the best out of the big name brands, but I did have some slipping within the shoe.
IDA women’s soccer cleats and shoes fit pretty true to size. Some of my teammates who have wide feet don’t find them quite as comfortable as I do. But bear in mind that the size you’ve typically worn in “women’s” cleats might not be the size you’d wear in IDAs because, after all, they were designed for a man’s foot. Fortunately, IDA offers a generous refund policy with free return shipping so you can test out a few sizes.
Classicas
When I first tried the IDA Classicas, I was prepared to wear them for a half to break them in while I had my old broken in cleats on standby for the second half. I literally forgot I was wearing new cleats. That’s how comfortable they were.
With a less bulky design around the toe box, the foot-to-ball touch felt a lot better, and gave me slight better sense of control. It looks like IDA changed up the laces, too, and the new ones seemed to stay better tied than with my old pair.
I’ve included some comparison photos where you can see the old and new Classicas side-by-side. I’m sure you’ll notice the huge difference.
Rise
I own a pair of the old Rise cleats. And while I haven’t tried the 2024 Rise yet, I did get to see and touch them. The Rise have taken style notes from the Classicas and trimmed down to a sleeker, less bulky version of their prior selves.
My biggest complaint with my old pair of Rise cleats is that they took a bit to break in. Unlike the Classicas, the Rise felt tighter and hurt the front of my feet the first few times I wore them. After that, they were just as comfortable as my Classicas.
The updated Rise feel much more flexible and thinner, so it appears they will be more comfortable than their predecessor.
Spirit
The Spirit is IDA’s futsal shoe. They are also great for pickleball. They are pretty much my go-to casual shoes, whether I’m cruising around town or lifting weights in my garage. I always get compliments on them.
Where To Grab Your IDAs At A Discount
If you’re ready to try IDAs, you can hit their website and they’ll ship directly to your home. Use code ADULTSPLAYSPORTS to get an additional 10% off at checkout.
They have a 30-day return policy, and if you need to return or exchange your IDAs, they’ll take care of the return shipping, so there’s no harm or foul in testing them out.
Wrap Up
IDA Sports is still a very new company, but they are making great strides in women’s soccer cleats. In fact, some of the bigger brands are finally taking notice. A couple have introduced what they are now calling women’s-specific soccer cleats. Is that because women’s sports are finally getting deserved recognition? Or is it because these companies now see a market that will increase their earnings?
Of course, a company like IDA can’t survive without earning revenue, but they’ve always had a girls and women first vision. As a woman who started playing soccer when I was five, in the early days of Title XI, and where girls’ sports were all but an afterthought, it’s been nice to see things change. And I love supporting a company that is part of the change.
