I absolutely love the Diadora's. They're incredibly light, clean up pretty easily and are great on the hard ground. I like that I can use them indoors or out but they still have enought "cleats" on them to be very effective on some slippery surfaces. What's really nice is they don't pickup loose grass like my regular soccer studs did. As it pertains to the reason I started this thread in the first place, the Diadora's took care of the pain I was getting in my shins. It's nice being able to run decently again
ref f - the copy says the color is green, not yellow. must be the reproduction that looks funny. i have tried some running shoes with mesh tops. real problem on dusty fields. hard to clean up to look nice. diadoras are a little narrow, but i went through 2 pair anyway. the osi 'lottos' have been good to me.
I've had problems with any type of running shoe, because of side-to-side movement tends to loosen the soul.
The lottos were the other shoe I considered, so thanks for posting that!! The only reason I went with the Diadora's over the Lotto's is that I couldn't get the Lotto's locally. I don't like ordering shoes over the internet. Sizes vary too much, I want to be able to try them on first.
iasocfan - you might be interested in the latest instruction from uefa to go with your loose "soul". "Following Collina's presentation, Mattia Piffaretti, a member of UEFA's Referee Instructor Panel, underlined the need for referees to maintain concentration at the highest possible level throughout the full 90 minutes of a game. The difficulty for officials, he said, came from having to focus on the action while also keeping an eye on the rest of the pitch. Piffaretti, a sports psychologist, showed how mental skills training could contribute to enhanced concentration. He recommended that match officials prepare as a team, discussing a game together, and suggested strategies ("arousal regulation techniques") for raising or lowering motivation and stress levels."
I tend to go extremes - bladed cleats to flats. Bladed cleats for the wet slop we have (not that often since generally the grass fields shut down if too rain soaked), flats for everything else - gravel, turf, firmer grass. Some fields have a very bad tendency to become mucky, so full blown cleats are a necessity to avoid landing on your a**. I've tried turf shoes, but they accumulate too much gunk to be practical - on most winter grass fields, they'd have less grip than my flats due to being filled up with mud. My blades are Diadora's - very nice and pretty comfy. My flats are any reasonably priced black cross trainer
First off I have no feet problems….and this is important. I fully agree with others that if you have feet problems, cost is not an issue…buy what works for your feet. When I first started refereeing I wore my soccer cleats and after doing three or four games my feet, legs, and it seemed like everything else, ached with extreme pain. I’m a slow learner and put up with this for two years or so. I finally started buying the 60 – 80 dollar “turf” shoes and found that I had happy feet. I could do tournaments from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm and still have happy feet. My problem was that I do about 400 games a year and was going through shoes at least one pair a year. So after about another two years…again, I’m a slow learner…I went to WalMart and purchased black sneakers for about $20.00. They were fantastic. So I typically buy one to two pair a year. Included in my shoe bag is: 1. One pair of full spiked cleats for those few times I’m officiating in slop. 2. Two to three pairs of WalMart specials (rotated so they are dry)…flat soled sneakers…worn in 98 percent of the games. 3. A pair of Samba’s for winter indoor.
I have been using the New Balanace 995 turf shoe with a sof-sole stable trac insole. The turf sole of the 995 offers very good traction while providing adaquate comfort and support for multiple games in a day. See link http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/23445104/c/3.html I have just recently found two more shoes that I plan to rotate this year. The first is the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 7 which is very light and looks to be an option similar to the Asics 2010 and 2110 models (I personally prefer Brooks to Asics). See Link http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/22716479/c/6748.html The last is the New Balance MX760 which is a new trainer that is light weight and has a great fit for my foot. This shoe has a kind of modified turf sole but looks adaquate to give traction except for the most sloppy field. See link http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/23834192/c/3.html
Just ordered the Diadora referee shoe from OSI (along with other crap so I could give them my left kidney yet again for payment). We'll see how they do.
A note on the Diadoras - I use them indoors, and the outside weaving has begun to wear down and fray. I think it's from the occasional time when my feet rub together, but I've had to use polyurethane in a spot to seal it up. But they are VERY comfortable and cushony. I have flat feet, so they are very nice, but I look for something "faster" outdoors. Last outdoor I used the adidas Matteo's (women's shoes, but for me it's about the look). By the end of the season, the insoles were moldy and gross, so I threw them out. Thinking about the Bracaras, but a thread here said they were "crap". I see FIFA refs with these great looking black shoes with 3 stripes. Here's Massimo Busacca with them: http://www.mediotiempo.com/inc/img/galeria_partido/3290_88g.jpg Does anyone what those are? They look flat or molded on the bottom. I don't think they are the Mundials, since the Mundials don't have the fold-down tongue.
for dry, hard ground i wear copa indoors. for firm i wear nike air legends for soft i wear adidas f50 SG (the bladed SG, i also use these in tournys instead of the world cups for wet) for really soft i wear adidas world cup SG (the ones with really big studs)
Just got my Diadoras. Seem a bit narrow (hopefully they stretch), but other then that they are snazzy with nice mini-cleats.
Finally ordered a pair of black running shoes to try out for refereeing. Kohls.com has the New Balance 473 trail running shoe on sale for $35.99. I ended up getting 10% off and free shipping = final cost $32.39 plus tax. This model wasn't my favorite choice for looks, although it is better than most I've seen. For $32 plus tax, it was worth a shot. I don't like the all-leather running shoe / cross-trainer look which characterizes most of the black running shoes / cross-trainers / coaches shoes I've seen discussed as ref shoe alternatives around here. The 473 has a good amount of mesh with some leather, and more of a runner's shoe look than the all-leather varieties. Shipping is free for orders > $75, so I ordered 2 different sizes and $5 worth of filler. Used coupon code NEW1829 at checkout for 10% off the whole order. Kohl's merchandise can be returned in the store, so that eliminates worry about wrong size and needing to return ship things.
If you like Adidas, you may want to look at these. They are light and comfortable. Run a bit short so order 1/2 size larger. http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/24044215/c/89326.html
adidas Running Fortitude 2 -- looks pretty nice. $59 isn't bad. Plus they are available in D or EE widths. Thanks for the heads-up. The feedback on zappos.com says '75% of respondents felt this shoe was a full size smaller than marked.' So maybe order a full size larger, not 1/2 size? Either way, sounds like they definitely run short.
I know it's been a while since the last post, but I just thought I'd share my latest shoe find... it's an interesting one: the adidas Mali. The black version, of course. It's a kayak/rafting shoe, with a lot of metal vents for drainage of water, which means for a nice breeze on your feet on those hot days. There's a lot of cushion, and the inside is a hydrophobic rubber, so it doesn't hold bacteria and sweat, which helps with foot/shoe odor. There's a lot of silver on them, which has turned off a lot of people to them, but I like to think of them as a cross between a pair of Copas and the Diadora referee shoe. Dirt and dust wipes right off, and a little bit of moisture (water or spit) gets the material to shine quite nicely. Here's a picture of them in (sort of) action. I'm in the middle... ignore the ridiculous expression on my face. The kid on the right side of the picture is wearing the Diadora referee shoes, for some (limited) comparison. My feet are huge (size 13), so take that into consideration as well, haha. It's faster and lighter than the Diadora, and I have absolutely no complaints with it... well, don't step in any puddles, as the water goes through the vents, but your foot dries as fast as it gets wet, haha.
They actually look pretty good, notmuch different than addidas turf shoes. The venting would be a nice plus, but I think I'd have to carry a second pair of shoes for wet ground. On a side note, off topic, nice to see a full crew with pro-shirts, OSI shorts and socks. What level of game was that?
The game was a U-17 Boys final at our Open tournament with two of my good friends... not really a high level game, but I/we still take a lot of pride in our appearances. I'm a bit of an OSI... er... supporter, to say the least, haha. And as far as the shoes go, I wear those for most of what I do, but I carry a pair of Mundial teams, Asics running shoes, and Copas for the various other weather conditions I might come across.
LOL...I have my own love/hate relationship with them myself. Quick question...just got a shirt from OSI that has the threads coming out after like two uses. I have many others (just the way they like it!) that I've had for months or even over a year that I haven't had this problem. Is it worth my time to complain and ask for an exchange or should I just suck it up and drop another $45 or so? On the shoe topic...I just got a pair of the $50 Diadoras that OSI carries and they are SURPRISINGLY good...light and comfortable. Just wore out my favorite Patricks and had to get a new turf shoe...expected the $50 to just get me through until I could do some research but they are much better shoes than I expected. I recommend them, but remember...I'm just a ref, what could I possibly know???
When you say threads are coming out, do you mean it is snagging in the shirt material itself? I've had the same problem and I just cut then with some precision scissors and you can barely notice them. No way I would drop another $50 just because of this issue. If an assessor complains, tell them if OSI made better shirts, you wouldn't have the snags on your shirt. Completely agree about the Diadoras. I was surprised at how nice they are. Sadly, they still have the same smelly shoe problem that my other shoes do .