velcro rugby boots

[theDudesmummy]

I don't imagine anyone will be able to help, but just on the off-chance: I am looking for rugby boots with Velcro closure not laces, in adults' not kids' sizes. I cannot find such a thing anywhere. My son is dyspraxic and cannot tie laces, and he plays rugby. He is now 14 and it is embarrassing for him to have his mum tie his laces. Until last year I could get Velcro boots but he is now an adult size 7 and they are apparently just not available.

I’ve not seen Velcro ones, but you can certainly get laceless adult football boots, are they different from rugby boots??

Has he been playing for a while? Does he have friends on the team? Perhaps it’s time for him to have a good chat with a friend (in a serious or jokey way depending on his preference) and they can help him going forward.

Is there any work/therapy he can do outside of rugby that will help him learn the skill going forward or is that just not going to be possible for him? Either way he needs to be better about talking about his problems and getting
help as it’s going to come up throughout his life or work hard to develop the necessary skills, which I appreciate will be very difficult for him and probably frustrating.

Would replacing the laces with elastic laces work?
We use something like this

Google ‘no tie shoelaces with lock button’ - would something like that work?

@theDudesmummy My sons are NT and both had elastic laces with the toggle that cinches them tight. Lots of runners have these too so their laces do not come undone mid race. The toddle has a squeeze button ie you need a finger and thumb to squeeze it to move it along the laces. Ds2 found he could leave them cinched and get his feet in and out due to the elastic laces.

They are completely adjustable so no long laces you can cut them short and there is a little plastic bit that closes over the ends of the lace. Mine were from Amazon. Like this but in black to match the football boot or trainer. Like these but the squeeze buttons were either side of the toggle.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/INMAKER-Adults-Elastic-Trainers-Shoelaces/dp/B07HN2PSPV

Thanks so much for the very helpful replies! I think I am going to try some laceless football boots, I don't see they are very different from rugby boots and at the level he is playing at I can't imagine it will make a difference (really just having fun and running about with the team, he does not really understand the rules! He is also autistic, and the coaches are being lovely allowing him to train with the NT boys and feel part of the group, which he loves).

The elastic laces are also a super helpful idea going forward, and would enable us to have a wider choice of shoes. I am still managing to get Velcro school shoes at the moment (from M&S) but otherwise Velcro shoes in adult sizes are not that common. I will try some of the elastic laces on some standard trainers and see how they work for him.

We have tried really hard over the years to teach him laces/knots/bows but at the moment it is not something he wants to try, I think he is a bit scared about it. We will keep trying (his dyspraxia is very strange, he can type onto a tiny phone touchscreen with no problems at all but can't tie a knot, although he can do buttons. I suspect some of the issues are affected by anxiety...)

I use lock laces in all my trainers due to a disability and they are brilliant. So easy to use and a nice adjustable level of tightness.
I hace (but haven't put on my shoes yet) some Zubits for some lace up formal shoes but they get great reviews

I can no longer tie laces due to arthritis in my fingers. I replace laces in walking boots, trainers and even normal shoes with elastic laces like these. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08MTJ7PHJ/ref=ppxyoodtbbsearchasinn_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So many helpful posts, thanks so much everyone.

My DS can not get his head around laces at all, it's a source of massive frustration for him. I would definitely recommend laceless boots and when he played both football and rugby I never bought separate boots for each sport.

I will say though some of them are a massive PITA to get on, his latest are puma £38 (a bargain compared to most) in sports direct and he says they are the best ones because they more or less slip on.

Yes, I just ordered some of the puma football ones (some of the others are so expensive!), and will see how we go!

There is a difference between rugby studs and football studs, so check with the coach they aren't too sharp.

Just to let you know it's unlikely he'll be able to play rugby in football boots due to the different studs.

However if the boots you have bought have the screw in studs you can buy rugby studs and replace them.

OK I will look into that, thanks.