Women's football is certainly on the rise however, there are some areas of the game where women still struggle to feel included up until recently it has been hard for women to find boots that provide them the need they require to feel comfortable whilst playing and even football clothing for training and games that makes the female player feel more comfortable and confident. There does seem to be a few companies popping up now though that are catering more to the females players needs such as Miss Kick who are providing female fitting football clothing, one thing I never thought about though was goalkeeper gloves and how they might differ between the men and women playing but that all changed when I discovered KeepHer Soccer on Instagram, I started to see there was a need for women's goalkeeping gloves and I was lucky enough to as owner Doug a few questions about his company and why he ran with the idea of starting a company for female goalkeepers..

EOTA : So tell us a little about yourself Doug ?

KeepHer Soccer: I am a Dad of three daughters, married 31 year and love soccer! I live in Portland OR and grew up in a suburb of Chicago. I played soccer in college and then started coaching shortly after college.  I coached youth level for many years.  The last 5 years have been coaching at the high school level. I have my USSF “C” license and a masters degree in coaching and athletic education.

EOTA :  Where did the idea for Keep her Soccer come from? 

KeepHer Soccer: For along time I’ve been amazed at the type of specialty equipment that evolves in sports.  Different shoes for every type of game and condition.  There are different styles of equipment even within the same sport (such as baseball the first base glove is different from a catcher’s glove which is different from a fielders glove.

Then I started seeing how some things were different because of men and women.  My classic example is that of a jacket.  A men’s jacket is typically straight at the sides while a women’s jacket typically curves in a bit.  This shows up in sports and recreational gear all the time.

I also kept hearing from the girls in my house how they liked clothes that were fitted for their body shape rather than a man’s body shape.  They want the same quality, materials, function etc… but just something that fits them better.

I began to see how this shows up in various ways in sports and then some places where it is really lacking.

Specifically in soccer I saw female shoes and female uniforms which completely make sense.  But I never saw any goalkeeper gloves that were specifically made for females. 

I decided I’d do some research to see if there is an actual difference between men’s and women’s hands.  I found out that there is.

Then it really puzzled and bothered me that no one was addressing this issue.  I approached some companies and told them about my idea yet no one wanted to give it a shot. 

I decided if no one else would do it then I would!

EOTA:  Out of all the equipment that is used in the game why is there a focus on gloves rather than an item such as a boot or a clothing item? 

KeepHer Soccer :  For me it was the item that had yet to be addressed by any company.  Plus I have a passion for goalkeeping.  I played in college, my middle daughter played in college and I’ve coached goalkeeping for a long time.  Goalkeeper gloves were overlooked as an item that could be and should be changed because a female has a different need than a male.

EOTA :  What has been one of the highlights of being a part of shaping the game for women so far? 

KeepHer Soccer : Probably when I get feedback from goalkeepers who say something like “This is the best fitting glove I’ve every used.” 

EOTA :  What makes your gloves so different from those that can be generically bought from any store? 

KeepHer Soccer :  There are four main ways the hands differ:

1.       In males the thumb is typically shorter

2.       In males the index finger when compared with the ring finger is usually shorter.  In females the ring and index finger are about the same size

3.       In females the little finger is typically shorter.

4.       The average “hand index” is .44   This is the ratios of the hand width to length.  In males the hand index is higher resulting in a wider/broader hand.  In females it is less resulting in a more narrow hand.

EOTA :  Where do you see the company in the future? 

KeepHer Soccer : We have slowly been growing over the last four years and are on a path to keep progressing. We have a distributor in Australia and hope to find one in the UK. 

EOTA : Where can you buy the gloves from currently? 

KeepHer Soccer :  Mostly on line.  There are a few stores in the states that carry them

EOTA :  If you could give any advice to anyone wanting to create a product to either help women players or any players in generally what would you say? 

Keep Her Soccer :  This is difficult because there are so many things that come into play when developing a product.  Plan on start up cost being 2-3 times what you expect.  There are always unforeseen items that come into play once you’ve decided to move forward.  So make sure you have the funds to finish out the first wave.  It doesn’t have to be tens of thousands of dollars but you do need more than you first expect.

It is amazing to think that no one else seems to think that there is an issue with females having to play in male gloves due to the lack of availability from the big sporting brands but it is great to see what Keep Her Soccer is doing for the women's game. I think as the game continues to rise we are going to see more and more female goalkeepers wearing Keep Her Soccer gloves and let's hope they can break into more markets around the world in the near future. With the amazing designs they do I actually wish I was a goalkeeper as I think I would really be spoiled for choice when it came to purchasing from them. 

If you want to take a look at the sort of thing Keep Her Soccer do for yourself then you can find there website here or head on over to their Instagram.