At the beginning of most organized collegiate, high school, and youth soccer games, the assigned officials will take a moment to inspect the soccer cleats of each player. This is done for a very specific reason: soccer cleats are different than the cleats that players wear in other sports.
Yet because of the size and shape of soccer cleats, you can actually wear them in most sports if you wanted to save some money. This includes baseball or lacrosse, though it wouldn’t be safe or allowed to wear baseball or lacrosse cleats while playing soccer.
This is because soccer cleats are low-cut and light. They are designed to help players dig into the ground so they can make cuts and turns with ease. The cleats are shorter than you’ll find in other sports as well because of the need for agility within a soccer match. They are also always made from rubber, not metal, because of the tackling that occurs over the course of a game.
Rubber cleats into a shin at full speed, even when wearing the best shin guards money can buy, doesn’t feel good. Now imagine needing to protect against metal cleats!