Children's astro turf trainers, the ones with a flat rubber sole covered in small pimples, are the right football shoe for a narrower set of pitches than most parents expect. They suit older sand-based astro, hard and frozen grass, playgrounds and short-pile all-weather courts. On a modern 3G pitch with rubber crumb, AG boots usually grip better, and some 3G venues won't let astro trainers on at all.
Sports halls need a third sole again: flat, non-marking indoor shoes.
Find out which surface your child's club trains and plays on before buying anything.
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Do Kids Need Astro Turf Trainers?
Plenty of children never own a pair. If your child trains and plays on 3G and grass, one pair of AG or multi-ground boots covers most of their football, and our guide to the best football boots for kids is the better place to start.
Astro trainers earn their place when at least one of these is true:
- Training is on sand-based or sand-dressed astro. Many school pitches and older leisure centre pitches are this type. Studs have very little to sink into, so boots slide across the top.
- The ground is hard. Frozen grass in January and baked pitches in late summer are both uncomfortable in studs.
- Your child is young and plays for fun. For under-7s doing a weekend session on a hard court or a dry pitch, a pair of turf trainers is comfortable, easy to walk to the pitch in and lasts well.
- Winter training moves indoors. That needs indoor shoes rather than turf trainers, which is covered below.
TF vs AG vs Indoor: What's on the Sole
Every kids football shoe falls into one of these sole types. The label is printed on the box and usually on the sole itself.
TF (Turf), also sold as astro trainers, astro boots or turf trainers. A solid rubber outsole covered in dozens of small rubber lugs. Surrey FA's footwear guide for its Meadowbank 3G pitch describes them as having numerous small multidirectional lugs that offer limited grip in wet conditions. Puma labels the same thing TT.
AG (Artificial Ground). Short moulded studs, more of them than a grass boot, built to grip the longer pile and rubber crumb of a 3G pitch. Our FG vs AG boots guide explains why that stud layout matters on artificial turf.
IC, IN or Sala (Indoor Court). A flat gum rubber sole, usually non-marking, with a pivot point under the ball of the foot. Built for sports hall floors and futsal. Nike uses IC, adidas uses IN, Indoor or Sala, and Puma uses IT.
MG (Multi-Ground). A boot with studs, sold for grass and artificial pitches. It's still a boot, not a trainer.
Indoor shoes look like trainers, so it's easy to assume they'll do on astro. They won't: a flat sole has almost no grip on an outdoor artificial surface, and Surrey FA lists flat indoor soles as forbidden on its 3G pitch because they have no grip and flatten the surface.
Which Surface Is Your Child Playing On?
Grassroots clubs and schools use a mix of surfaces, and two venues in the same town can need different shoes.
Sand-based or sand-dressed astro (often called 2G). Short, dense pile with sand in it. Common at schools and older sports centres, and also used for hockey. This is what TF trainers were made for: West Riding FA's 3G footwear guide describes astro trainers as designed primarily for 2G sand-based pitches.
3G and 4G with rubber crumb. Longer pile with black rubber granules between the fibres. Most newer football pitches are this type. AG boots are the normal choice. Whether astro trainers are allowed depends on the operator:
- West Riding FA lists astro turf trainers as unacceptable footwear on its 3G pitch, next to bladed boots and generic trainers, and says staff and referees check footwear before anyone goes on.
- Surrey FA's Meadowbank pitch permits TF trainers, but only when the surface is dry.
If your child's club trains on 3G, look for the footwear sign on the gate or ask the coach before buying. A child turned away at the gate in the wrong shoes misses the session.
Sports halls. Indoor shoes, covered in their own section below.
Playgrounds, courts and hard grass. TF trainers are the most comfortable option here, and the rubber lugs cope with concrete far better than studs do.
A common pattern for a primary-age player: Tuesday training on the school's sand-based astro, Thursday on the club's 3G, Sunday matches on grass or 3G. One pair of AG boots covers Thursday and Sunday. A pair of TF trainers makes Tuesday more comfortable. Buying both makes sense only if the Tuesday session is weekly and the boots are clearly struggling on it.
Trust the process. Track the progress.
Track their goals and assists, log their progress and keep coach feedback in one place, season after season.
Start free trialWhen Trainers Beat Boots, and When They Don't
Trainers tend to win:
- On sand-based astro, where AG and FG studs sit on top of the surface rather than in it.
- On frozen or rock-hard grass, where studs press into the sole of the foot.
- For small-sided games on a hard court or playground.
- For young children who play once a week and walk to and from the pitch in their football shoes.
Boots tend to win:
- On wet grass, where turf trainers slide, especially when a child turns or plants to shoot. On genuinely muddy pitches, see our guide to children's soft ground football boots.
- On 3G and 4G for matches, where AG studs grip the crumb and the venue may not allow trainers anyway.
- From around under-9 or under-10 upwards, as pitches get bigger and the game involves more sprinting, turning and striking a moving ball. The FA youth format changes are roughly when that shift happens.
Astro trainers take pressure off the foot on hard ground, but on a wet surface they give less grip than boots, and slipping is its own risk.
Turf trainers do not replace AG boots on 3G either. Some children wear them there without a problem when it's dry, but on a wet winter evening the lugs don't hold, and that's when a lot of winter club training happens.
Best Children's Astro Turf Trainers
When we checked Amazon, kids TF trainers were easier to find in stock than kids AG or SG boots, but size runs still had gaps. We checked these on Amazon for this guide, and both were stocked across children's and junior sizes.
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What to check on any kids turf trainer:
- The TF label. Some cheap listings call any football shoe an "astro trainer", including ones with FG studs. Look at the sole photo: it should be covered in small lugs, not a dozen studs.
- Lugs right across the sole, including under the heel. A sole with smooth patches wears through quickly and grips unevenly.
- A rubber wrap at the toe. Children drag their toes on hard surfaces when they stop or play on their knees, and a thin synthetic toe scuffs through quickly.
- Fastening. Laces and hook-and-loop both hold the foot securely, so pick laces only if your child can tie them or the coach is happy to. Hook-and-loop turf trainers exist for younger children, though stock in the sizes we checked was thin. Avoid slip-on styles.
For a child with wide feet, the width advice in our wide feet boots guide applies to turf trainers too: the same brand lines run wider or narrower whichever sole they come on.
Indoor Football Shoes for Sports Halls
When winter training moves into a school or leisure centre hall, turf trainers are the wrong shoe. Many halls ask for non-marking soles, and lugs that have been on an outdoor pitch carry grit onto the floor.
Indoor shoes have a flat gum rubber sole. The FA's futsal Law 4 sets out footwear for futsal as canvas or soft leather training or gymnastic shoes with soles of rubber or a similar material, and an indoor football shoe is built to that brief.
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Two habits keep indoor shoes useful for longer. Keep them in the kit bag and change into them at the hall, and don't let them become everyday trainers. A worn, dusty indoor sole loses grip on a polished floor, which is the main thing it was bought for.
For home sessions on a dark evening, socks or bare feet on a mat are fine. Our indoor football training guide covers what to do in a hallway or living room.
Sizing and Growth Room
The temptation with kids football trainers is to buy a size up so they last the season. It usually backfires. A shoe that's too long lets the foot slide forward when your child stops, the toe creases where it shouldn't, and blisters follow.
NHS Lothian's podiatry advice on children's footwear recommends a thumb's width of space between the tip of the longest toe and the end of the shoe, and says shoes should be comfortable from the start rather than needing to be broken in. That thumb's width is the growth room. More than that is too big.
A few practical points:
- Try them on with football socks. Thick football socks can make a shoe feel noticeably tighter than it did with school socks.
- Check the size label on the listing. Kids sizes run up to 13.5 and then restart at 1, so a size 1 is bigger than a 13. Amazon labels some sizes "UK Child" and others plain "UK" on the same listing, so match the number against your child's current shoes before ordering.
- Check the fit every few months, and after a growth spurt. Children rarely say a shoe is tight until it hurts. Pressing the toe with your thumb while they stand is quicker than asking.
- Hand-me-downs are fine on fit, less so on wear. A sibling's turf trainers that fit well are worth using, but check the lugs under the ball of the foot. If they're worn smooth, the grip has gone.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are astro trainers OK on grass?
On dry, firm grass, yes, and on frozen grass they're often more comfortable than boots. On wet or muddy grass they slip, so they're a poor choice for winter matches.
What's the difference between astro trainers and moulded boots?
Moulded boots have proper rubber or plastic studs. Astro trainers have dozens of much smaller lugs on a flat sole. Moulded boots grip grass and 3G better. Astro trainers are more comfortable on hard ground and sand-based astro.
Can my child wear astro trainers as everyday trainers?
They can, but pavements wear the lugs down quickly, and a worn turf sole loses its grip on the pitch. If they're the only trainers your child has, expect to replace them sooner.
Are girls' astro trainers different from boys'?
Most kids turf trainers are sold as unisex in the same sizes, with only the colourway differing. Choose on fit, whichever section of the shop they're in. Our guide to football boots for girls covers fit for girls who find standard kids boots too wide or narrow.