The Washington Post offers a fascinating look in on Navy’s football team, and a unique injury risk they face. Like all Navy recruits, they’re required to wear dress oxfords whenever they’re not on the football field or in the dorm. Further – they’re only issued one pair, which they then wear every day until graduation.
Apparently, many of the players wore their heels and soles dramatically, and while they have access to a cobbler in the dorm (!), they weren’t availing themselves of his services. The combination of worn-down shoes, a rigorous school and training schedule, and the demands of football left players vulnerable to foot and heel injuries.
The team has taken measures to arrest this issue – they now require their players to visit the cobbler regularly to correct wear issues, and they also require foot warmups (”foot activations”) to be completed before feet are taped up by trainers.
Let’s get them some cream polish to replace the wax and they’ll be completely PTO-approved.
