Question Number: 29094

Law 4 - Players Equipment 1/11/2015

RE: Competitive Under 18

Coco of Imperial beach , California United states asks...

I would like to know if i were to be allowed to wear metal studed cleats in high school in south california. Like the soft grass cleats.

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Coco
Cleats are made from a variety of materials including hard plastic, rubber, metal etc. There is nothing inherently dangerous in metal cleats and most if not all of the shoe manufacturers have a metal cleat offering.
NFHS rules state that any type of cleat manufactured explicitly for soccer is allowed, as long as the referee does not believe they have been altered in any way which would make them dangerous. Metal cleats that are worn while walking along rough walk-ways could get burred or sharpened, and referees are warned to check for worn cleats that have become dangerous.
Each state association is allowed to modify the NFHS rules for their own state and if the game is played on astro turf the use of metal studs can be prohibited due to wear on the surface

Answer provided by Referee Dennis Wickham

Metal cleats are generally permitted in Southern California high school matches, as long as the referee judges them to be safe. But, they are extremely rare for two reasons: (a) many high schools have installed field turf, and the metal cleats are prohibited to protect the turf by designation of the home school, and (2) the grass fields in SoCal are quite hard and player's don't need or like the longer metal studs on this surface.