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We've been having our kids school and sport shoes fitted at The Athlete's Foot in Hobart for quite a few years now. Our Bella has a crooked spine which can cause her great discomfort and often nasty back pain on different days, but we help combat this with four magic things:
- orthotics
- regular osteopathic appointments
- daily exercises on a posture pole
- and importantly - properly fitted shoes at The Athlete’s Foot
Bella was very active at school last year, training 3 days a week as part of their school Jumping Jacks team (skipping) on top of her normal P.E. during school hours. About 3/4 of the way through the school year she outgrew her school shoes and we made the decision for her to solely wear her Asics shoes for the last term of school.
Next year we're going back to Clarks school shoes plus Asics for sport days! Bella is at school for 30 hours per week - that's a crazy chunk out of her waking hours - so it’s super important to ensure that she is wearing correctly fitted shoes while she's there.
And what’s even better – this year The Athlete’s Foot stores stock both Clarks and Ascent school shoes – so they have a bigger range of school shoe types for all the different types of kids feet.
As a little experiment to see just how many steps she has been doing at school, Bella and I wore a pedometer each for 3 days midweek. The results over the 3 day period were:
- Bella :: 31 711 (average 10 570 per day)
- Myself :: 33 607 (11 202 per day)
That's a whole lot of walking per day for a little person's feet - especially if your shoes aren't nice and comfortable. I know Bella is active but I was a little bit surprised at how many steps she managed to accumulate, which shows that a large chunk of school time is actually spent walking & running around away from her desk.
So, just after Christmas we headed to our local Athlete's Foot store in Hobart for another school shoe fitting!
The Athlete's Foot technician team are awesome - super friendly, helpful and filled to the brim with knowledge about everything relating to feet and shoes. I guess that's why we keep going back each year and why this blog post is so easy for me to write.
One thing that Bella loves in store is walking over their FitPrint machine every year, which transmits information to a computer and then works out where each foot bears the most pressure. This then gives the staff a better understanding of your feet and footwear requirements.
Bella tried on a couple of different styles from the Clarks and Ascent range, but we settled on the Clarks Indulge - a lovely Mary Jane style. I was really surprised to hear that the lace up range of shoes are really popular for girls at school - I think Bella has only ever worn the Mary Jane style.
The Athlete’s Foot online store also sells and showcases the range of Clarks and Ascent school shoes – in a lovely catalogue (here) or with more details on each product (here).
One little foot fact that I learnt in store is that children's feet are still growing and forming right into their late teens, so properly fitted shoes are super important to give their feet room to grow happily and healthily!
{The lovely Tom at The Athlete's Foot Hobart handing over Bella's new Clark school shoes}
Now we're all fitted thanks to The Athlete’s Foot Hobart and shoe happy for Bella's final primary school year! I also have a super fun give away for you too - a $50 The Athlete’s Foot Gift Card!
Just leave a comment on this post answering the following question:
How active are your kids in their school shoes?
Good luck! Here are some lovely links & information for you to help you and your kids find your fit for school this year:
- Finding your nearest Athlete’s Foot store
- The Athlete's Foot have over 130 stores or you can visit them online or view their School catalogue here
- When you've got a moment, check out their new TV ad - Classroom Casanova (very relevant to active kids!) here
