Outraged by the lack of care women received in sports, former basketball player, Natalie White, started Moolah Kicks, a brand dedicated solely to making basketball shoes for women.
In sports like soccer, basketball, skiing and other games that require pivoting, female athletes are up to eight times more likely than males to experience an ACL tear. With a wider pelvis, the female body creates more stress on soft tissues, has a more narrow space for the ACL to travel through, and an altered alignment of both the knee and ankle. While these statistics may seem to put female athletes at some kind of a disadvantage, what truly puts women at risk is the lack of attention and consideration they are given in the sports industry. With all this information and the known differences between the male and female body, the sports industry has continuously created male and female footwear the same, but things are beginning to change. In recent years, there have been a few companies that have created female-specific designs, in an attempt to combat the issue of injury in female athletes.
Like many female athletes, Natalie White founder of Moolah Kicks, was aware of the gender inequalities in the athletics industry. She was frustrated by the fact that WNBA players were modeling and promoting men’s basketball shoes and wanted to change that dynamic. White explains “for many years the message has been women can become the best players, but they don’t deserve their own shoe.” Now, Moolah is the only brand to offer premium performance women’s basketball shoes for every position on the court. For White, “it’s not just about fairness, it’s about protecting women and girls from injury.”
“It’s not just about fairness, it’s about protecting women and girls from injury,” says Natalie White.
A Moolah kick isn’t just designed in accordance to the female foot, but also womens’ wants and needs. The multi-step process begins with female ballers themselves, as White explains the first step in design is always to go to the women’s basketball community and find out what they think will best elevate their performance. This seems like an obvious thing to do when the shoe is meant to serve women’s basketball, but it’s actually what makes Moolah Kicks stand out. Female athletes have too long been looked past in sports. The inequality starts with something as simple as footwear and escalates into issues like unequal pay or disproportionate training facilities and staff. By starting with the basics, Moolah Kicks could ignite a domino of change for female hoopers. According to White “Moolah Kicks has started an upward cycle of elevating the on-court performance and increasing financial opportunity in women’s basketball.”
“After developing Moolah’s first shoe in 2021, the Phantom 1, I cold-emailed the CEO of Dick’s Sporting Goods , which ultimately led to Moolah Phantom 1 in more than 140 Dick’s Sporting Goods stores across the country,” says White. “That season was the creation of the first ever women’s basketball section in the landmark retailer.” Now, the shoe can be found in over 500 Dick’s Sporting Goods Stores in their newly existent women’s basketball section.
“Moolah Kicks has started an upward cycle of elevating the on-court performance and increasing financial opportunity in women’s basketball,” states White.
As inspiring as it is for the future of women’s basketball, it is still unbelievable that one of the largest sporting goods retailers in the United States didn’t have a women’s basketball section. It’s Moolah, other brands, and athletes-turned-activists that are paving the way for an equal playing field for women in sports.
“Seeing female hoopers go into Dick’s and realize that there’s an entire women’s basketball section, where they now have options and when they realize there are women’s basketball sneakers, and then they are excited to be playing the game– that’s what drives us,” says White. “We’re going to continue to listen and serve women’s basketball through performance products built specifically for women. We’re going to continue to drive innovation in products to elevate womens’ performance. And we’re going to continue to drive opportunities and growth across all levels of women’s basketball. ”Big names like Nike are starting to follow suit as well. This year, Nike released its first ever soccer cleat designed with women in mind. Nike’s new cleat, the Phantom Luna, is designed to have more traction on the pitch and to make pivoting less dangerous for women. The female focused shoe will hopefully decrease injury on the pitch, but also inspire even more brands to think of women’s anatomical design when making sports footwear. It’s about time.
