4 Reasons Why We Switched to Sweet Foam Shin Guard Padding
Sustainability. Functionality. Quality. A prioritization of player experience. Bamboo shin guards from Legend Soccer aim to accomplish many simultaneous goals. With their recent transition away from plastic-based foam to SweetFoam, the first carbon-negative EVA polymer, the company moved even closer to their mission. Here are four of the driving reasons behind that design shift:
- Reduce Ecological Impact
The first and most prominent reason Legend Soccer made the switch to SweetFoam shin guard padding is because of the sustainability factor.
Legend Soccer is built around the idea of creating a beautiful, functional, eco-friendly shin guard. The plastic-based EVA polyurethane foam that was originally used as padding did not further that company mission.
Player safety, impact resistance, and antimicrobial properties, however, were all essential in the bamboo shin guard design. The company was not going to make a switch in their foam padding until they knew they had a replacement that was ecologically friendly and satisfied all those safety requirements.
The answer finally came with SweetFoam. Produced from what would otherwise be the discarded parts of Brazilian-grown sugarcane, SweetFoam is all the following:
- A plant-based material.
- Impact resistant and as safe for in-game play as any other closed-cell foam.
- Antimicrobial and resistant to moisture or bacteria absorption.
- Produced in facilities run entirely on renewable energy.
- Not dependent on excessive fertilization or irrigation to grow.
- The world’s first carbon-negative EVA polymer.
The product was developed by San Francisco–based apparel and footwear retailer Allbirds.
- Promote Pride of Ownership with Your Bamboo Shin Guards
Whether you choose custom shin guards or their eco-grip training socks, Legend Soccer aims to produce sports accessories that honor soccer’s place as the “beautiful game.”
With everything they offer, Legend Soccer wants to provide products that are:
- Safe for players.
- Designed to facilitate high in-game performance.
- Aesthetically appealing.
- Environmentally conscious.
- Unique and high quality enough to promote true pride of ownership.
The bamboo shell and the shin guard’s unique minimalistic design accomplished all these goals.
With the addition of SweetFoam padding, yet another facet of the shin guard now lives up to these company goals and mission.
- Serve as a Conversation Starter about Sustainability in Sports Equipment
Eco-friendly consumerism is not a passing trend. In fact, a Global Consumer Insights Pulse Survey conducted in June 2021 found that over half of surveyed consumers across the globe noted becoming even more eco-friendly and intentional in their buying habits.
As people and businesses continue to demand more ecological accountability from brands, sustainability grows in the national conversation. This has led many industries to take a look at how they do business and to explore if there are better ways.
Sports equipment and accessories are no exception. Despite being the norm for decades, plastic shin guards are not sustainable, comfortable, or resistant to bacteria.
Wearing a pair of sleek, minimalistic bamboo shing guards during a game or practice is one way to naturally start a conversation about better global accountability within the sports industry.
This is one of the driving reasons Scotland’s Hibernian FC made the decision to adopt bamboo shin guards across their clubs.
- Stay True to Company Mission and Respect User Feedback
As any values-based company can tell you, it’s critical to remain loyal to the factors that underpin your business. For a company like Legend Soccer, which was built around the idea of player performance and sustainability, that meant every aspect of their bamboo shin guard had to live up to those ideals.
The unsustainable nature of plastic-based foam was not lost on users. Legend Soccer took this feedback to heart. Once the SweetFoam technology was available, the company vetted it thoroughly for its viability in the shin guards.
Once they ensured there was no loss of safety or performance, they decided to make this switch.
Interested? Learn more about Legend Soccer, its products, and its brand mission today.
