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Best Women's Soccer Gear in 2018

You have a lot of options when it comes to women's soccer gear, but here are some of the best options

By Nicola P. YoungPublished 6 years ago 6 min read
Top Story - September 2018
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Photo by Jeffrey Lin on Unsplash

Soccer is tough. Brutal, even. But it's even more so if you're not well prepared with the best women's soccer gear you can find. It's not just a matter of comfort or appearance—in fact, those are very much secondary concerns when it comes to soccer apparel and equipment. The real concern, and the reason you should care about what gear you wear and use, is that soccer players are at a very high risk of injury. Poor gear or lack of protection can put you out of the game for a long time, whether from strain-related injuries because of low-quality or ill-fitting soccer shoes, or contact injuries like turf burns or impact bruises from not having proper protective gear.

Good cleats are a crucial component of women's soccer gear for anyone playing on grass fields. The negative effects of a poor pair of soccer shoes can be ameliorated somewhat by doubling up your socks, using duct tape, and generally MacGyvering your soccer shoes in one way or another, but no low quality shoes or cleats can be fully made to perform like a good, well-fitted pair. Nike's Phantom Vision Elite soccer cleats are designed to be optimally sturdy and diverse, able to move with and form to your foot for maximum control. There's no need to sacrifice appearance for practicality, and these cleats are also optimally sleek and stylish.

When it comes to sports and athletics, your feet, ankles, and lower legs take an incredible beating. Soccer, with fast sprinting and hard kicking, is especially hard on these parts. Ranking among the best soccer socks in 2018, compression socks can help you avoid injury, recover from injury, and keep your circulation moving, especially on long training days when you spend significant periods on your feet, running, putting excess pressure on your lower extremities. Compression socks are especially beneficial for those who are prone to shin splints, muscle cramps, and other injuries common to athletes who regularly partake in high-impact activities, including those which soccer players regularly partake in. No women's soccer gear is complete without at least one pair of good compression socks for those long days.

The serious soccer player needs a few different kinds of soccer jerseys: short-sleeved soccer jerseys for training and matches, and long-sleeved soccer jerseys for each as well. A lot of people favor short sleeves to long sleeves, simply because athletics obviously require a lot of exertion. However, the long-sleeved jersey is a much more diverse option that can provide you with protection from cold weather and harsh sunlight, but can also be easily transformed for warm weather, simply by pushing up the sleeves. You can get a lot of great women's soccer gear, including long-sleeved jerseys, direct from brand sites like Adidas or Under Armor, or from compilation sites as soccer.com.

No one loves the subject, but the quality and proper fit of your sports bras can make or break a training or game experience, and even your ability to play. You need to make sure you have high quality bras in a number of ways: First, it should be highly breathable. The highest quality jersey won't do you much good if your bra underneath isn't equally breathable. But while jerseys can fit loosely, your bra also needs to do its job and offer you enough support, without constricting at the band. The best way to ensure good fit and quality is to invest in a trusted brand that you know won't lose its shape or restrict your movement or comfort while you play.

You don't want to get to the field without a clean, designated sweat towel, whether it's just a quick practice or a grueling match. In fact, you should generally have two towels with you: a sweat towel, for the obvious, and a full bath towel, for cleaning up after you play. Since it is, at the end of the day, just for sweat or drying yourself off, it's not like you have strict rules about this one, and it really doesn't make much of a different what your towel looks like—however, this is an opportunity to sport a little extra soccer apparel and show off your pro team pride, by making use of a towel that reflects your professional sports loyalties.

You don't want your hair getting in the way of your performance. Even with short hair or perfectly done hair, you'll still be prone to annoying fly-aways and the curse of sweat dripping into your eyes. So when it comes to women's soccer gear, you need to take into account all of these potentially distracting and annoying factors so you can focus on the game. While a band of pre-wrap will keep your hair in place just fine, it won't stop the sweat or prevent pulling, so finding a sweatband or headband that suits you will benefit you in the long run.

Even the most complete set of women's soccer gear and soccer apparel will do you no good if you don't have it with you when you need it. Because of this, it's important to also have a soccer bag that will not only fit all of your gear, but allow you to easily carry it to practice, games, and on long trips without tiring you out. You should look for a bag with plenty of room for all of your gear, multiple compartments so that you can separate clean and dirty apparel, padded shoulder straps to protect yourself from strain and pain, and, last but not least, water-resistant or waterproof material or fortification. Your bag will spend a lot of time moving about and sitting outdoors in whatever weather—you don't want your stuff getting soaked because you weren't prepared. It might even serve you to pick up one of the best soccer bags with ball compartments.

A complete stock of women's soccer gear requires multiple different kinds of soccer jerseys. One such piece of apparel is the short-sleeved jersey, a standard for any player. For official teams, you often have designated jerseys for practice, home games, and away games. But for fun, extra training, or if you don't have a uniform, you have a lot of options when it comes to soccer jerseys, from basics to team pride favorites. Just make sure it's at least mostly polyester, as this fabric breathes much better than alternatives and dries much quicker—you don't want to be laboring in sweat-soaked cotton in the hot sun.

When it comes to playing serious soccer, you don't want to skimp on your shin guards. Your shins can take a real beating in the game, and you'll want maximum protection. While soccer isn't meant to be a particularly violent sport, it is, at the end of the day, a contact sport. This contact—with other players, with the ball—can cause some pretty serious damage. So that isn't just protection from the potential bruising of a few kicks, but also protection from the even more deeply damaging shock that impact can cause. You want to make sure that your shin guards have ankle protection and not only block direct impact, but absorb and distribute it, so you don't wind up with long-lasting injuries.

Goalkeepers play something of a different game than other players, and the particular women's soccer gear they need often differs as well. One thing all goalkeepers should have is a good pair of turf-burn protection leggings. Storelli offers a range of Bodyguard leggings for this purpose, which provide padded protection on the hips, thighs, and calves, against the harsh turf burns that you could otherwise incur. It's not just burns you have to worry about either—this crucial piece of soccer apparel also protects your knees, thighs, and other points of impact from bacteria that could infect those impact sites.

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About the Creator

Nicola P. Young

Lover of Books, Saxophone, Blogs, and Dogs. Not necessarily in that order. Book blogger at heartofinkandpaper.com.

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