The hidden cost of introducing children to court sports—and why buying the right equipment before a child is ready to commit deserves a rethink.
Every year, Indian parents make an investment in their children's sporting ambitions.
A child develops an interest in badminton. Another wants to try squash. Someone watches a friend play table tennis and decides that they, too, want to learn.
Parents do what parents are expected to do. They find an academy, arrange coaching, purchase a racket, buy sportswear and, sooner or later, invest in a pair of non-marking sports shoes.
It is an investment made with good intentions. Parents hope their children will develop a skill, stay active, make friends and perhaps discover a lifelong passion.
But what happens when that passion doesn't last?
What if the child loses interest after a few weeks? What if academic pressure takes over? What if an injury interrupts training? What if an unpleasant experience at the academy makes the child reluctant to return?
Or what if the child genuinely wants to play again—but by the time the next season arrives, the shoes no longer fit?
The racket may still be usable. The sportswear may still fit. But the specialist shoes purchased for the sport may be sitting unused in a cupboard, ready to be outgrown before they can be used again.
Could the money spent on underutilised sports footwear add up to thousands of crores across India?
It is a question worth investigating.
1. The investment parents make before the commitment is certain
Specialist non-marking shoes serve an important purpose in indoor court sports. They are designed for the demands of particular playing surfaces and help players meet footwear requirements imposed by many facilities.
For a child who plays regularly, a suitable pair can be a worthwhile investment.
The challenge is that parents often have to make this purchase at the beginning of the sporting journey—before they know whether their child will continue.
Consider a familiar example.
A nine-year-old begins badminton lessons. The parents purchase a racket and a pair of dedicated court shoes. The first few sessions are exciting, but the novelty gradually fades. The child would rather play with friends, pursue another activity or spend more time on schoolwork.
Perhaps the child continues for three months and then stops.
The shoes remain in the cupboard.
Six months later, the child expresses interest in badminton again. The parents retrieve the shoes, only to discover that the child's feet have grown.
The shoes may be in excellent condition. Their soles may have plenty of life left. But if they no longer fit properly, they are no longer suitable for the child to play in.
The family now faces another purchase.
This is not an argument against buying appropriate sports footwear. It is a question about the timing of that investment when a child's interest and participation are still evolving.
2. Children quit sports for reasons beyond their parents' control
It is tempting to believe that a child who starts a sport will continue if the family provides the right equipment and coaching. Research suggests that participation is more complicated.
A systematic review by Jeff Crane and Viviene Temple, published in the European Physical Education Review in 2015, examined 43 studies on children's and adolescents' withdrawal from organised sport.
The researchers identified several broad factors associated with dropping out, including:
- Lack of enjoyment.
- A child's perception of their own ability or progress.
- Social pressures and relationships.
- Competing priorities.
- Physical factors, including maturation and injuries.
A separate systematic review and meta-analysis published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise in 2022 examined prospective studies involving 6,304 adolescent team-sport players. It found that motivation and the quality of a young person's sporting experience were strongly associated with whether they continued participating.
These findings do not tell us what percentage of Indian children abandon badminton or squash, nor do they quantify the value of unused footwear in Indian households. They do establish that continued participation cannot be taken for granted.
References:
Crane, J. & Temple, V. (2015). A systematic review of dropout from organized sport among children and youth. European Physical Education Review, 21(1), 114–131. Read the study.
Back, J. et al. (2022). Drop-out from team sport among adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 61, 102205. Read the study.
For parents, the practical implication is straightforward: buying specialist equipment is one part of supporting a child's sporting journey, but it cannot guarantee that the child will continue playing.
3. When an injury interrupts the sporting journey
An injury can change a child's relationship with sport.
A child who once looked forward to training may become anxious about returning to the court. The family may pause lessons while the child recovers. Schoolwork, examinations or other activities may take priority during the break.
Some children return enthusiastically. Others need more time, reassurance and support. Some move on to different activities.
The consequences for footwear are less dramatic but still relevant.
A shoe purchased at the beginning of the season may spend months unused while the child recovers or decides whether to resume training. By the time the child is ready to return, the shoe may no longer fit.
It is important not to overstate this relationship: an injury does not automatically lead to sporting withdrawal, and there is no established national figure showing how much Indian families lose in footwear expenditure because of injuries.
Nevertheless, interrupted participation is one of several reasonable scenarios to consider when examining the cost of buying specialist equipment upfront.
The wider lesson is that the useful life of children's sports footwear depends not only on how long the shoes last, but also on whether the child continues to play and whether the shoes continue to fit.
4. The growth factor: perfectly good shoes can become unusable
Children grow. Their feet grow, too.
For a growing child, footwear must remain appropriately fitted throughout the period of use. A shoe that was suitable at the beginning of the year may no longer be suitable several months later.
This creates a particular problem for specialist sports shoes.
A child may use a pair regularly for a short period, stop playing, and then return after a break. The shoes might show little visible wear, yet their fit may have changed relative to the child's feet.
Unlike some sports equipment that can be stored and used years later, footwear has an important fit-related limitation.
Parents cannot simply assume that a lightly used pair will remain suitable for the next season. Nor should they choose an unsuitable size in anticipation of future growth.
The sensible approach is to purchase correctly fitting footwear when needed and reassess fit before returning to play.
The financial question, then, is whether families have practical alternatives during the early stages of participation—when the commitment to a sport is still uncertain.
5. What could ₹3,500 crore mean for Indian families?
The figure of ₹3,500 crore is a striking starting point for this discussion. But to establish it as an annual national loss, we need a transparent calculation based on reliable data.
We would need to know:
- How many Indian children and recreational players purchase specialist non-marking shoes annually.
- The average price paid for these shoes.
- What proportion of the purchases becomes underutilised because of discontinued participation, interrupted training or outgrowing the footwear.
- The extent to which underutilised shoes retain resale, donation or future-use value.
Without these inputs, ₹3,500 crore should be treated as a proposed estimate to investigate—not as a verified statistic or a figure established by published research.
How the calculation could work
Suppose, purely for illustration, that 1 crore pairs of specialist sports shoes were purchased in a year at an average price of ₹3,500 per pair.
The total expenditure would be ₹3,500 crore.
If a proportion of those shoes subsequently went underutilised, the value attributable to that underutilisation would be a fraction of the total expenditure—not the entire ₹3,500 crore.
For example, if 20% of the expenditure related to shoes that became underutilised, the corresponding gross expenditure would be ₹700 crore.
These numbers are hypothetical. They are not estimates of actual Indian sales, average prices or abandonment rates.
There is also an important distinction between the price paid for a shoe and the economic loss associated with unused footwear. Some shoes will have been used extensively before a child stops playing; some can be passed on to another child if they fit; others may retain useful life but have little resale value.
A credible national estimate should account for these differences.
The question is not whether every pair of unused shoes represents a complete loss. It is how much value families could preserve if they had more flexible options during the trial stage of a sport.
6. What if children could try the sport before investing in specialist footwear?
This is where the discussion becomes interesting.
Imagine a family that wants to introduce its child to badminton.
The parents have not yet decided whether the child will attend lessons for a month, a year or longer. They want the child to experience the sport, understand the basics and discover whether playing is genuinely enjoyable.
At this stage, the family may prefer not to buy every piece of specialist equipment immediately.
A suitable entry-level racket, comfortable sportswear and appropriate footwear are still important. But there may be an opportunity to make the footwear decision more flexible.
Instead of purchasing a separate pair of dedicated non-marking shoes at the very beginning, could the family use a suitable pair of regular sneakers with an accessory designed specifically to adapt them for court use?
That is the thinking behind SoleD.
SoleD is a clip-on sole accessory designed to help transform compatible regular sneakers into non-marking footwear for supported court sports. It offers another option for people who want to try badminton, table tennis, squash, tennis, pickleball and other supported activities without immediately buying dedicated court shoes.
For a beginner, the potential advantages include:
- Lower initial commitment: Explore a sport before investing in a separate pair of specialist shoes.
- Flexibility: Use compatible personal sneakers rather than purchasing another pair solely for an initial trial.
- Convenience: Make it easier to prepare for an occasional or spontaneous game.
- A more considered purchase: Decide whether dedicated sports footwear is worthwhile as participation becomes more regular.
SoleD is not a replacement for every specialist sports shoe, and compatibility, fit, grip performance and the court's footwear rules must always be considered. It should not be used where it is unsuitable for the activity or fails to meet the facility's requirements.
Nor can any accessory eliminate the possibility that a child will lose interest or sustain an injury.
Its role is narrower: to offer an alternative way to approach the initial footwear investment.
7. The bigger opportunity: making sport easier to try
The issue extends beyond money.
When a child wants to try a sport, families must often coordinate coaching fees, transport, equipment, clothing and footwear. Each additional expense can make the decision feel more consequential.
Reducing the initial equipment commitment may make it easier for some families to explore different activities. It may also reduce the pressure to treat an early interest as a long-term commitment.
Children should be allowed to discover what they enjoy. Some will continue with badminton for years. Others may move to squash, swimming, dance, football or another pursuit.
Changing interests are a normal part of growing up.
The objective should not be to make parents reluctant to purchase appropriate equipment. It should be to help them make those purchases at the right time, with a clearer understanding of the child's needs and commitment.
Sports academies can contribute by explaining which equipment is essential from day one and which purchases can reasonably wait. Parents can check fit, understand the facility's footwear rules and avoid buying specialist equipment simply because they feel pressured to commit immediately.
And product innovations can help create more options for beginners.
Conclusion: Don't let the first purchase become a barrier to trying the game
A child's sporting journey rarely follows a perfectly predictable path.
Interest develops. Priorities change. Injuries happen. Children grow. A sport that feels exciting in one season may take a back seat in the next.
For parents, the challenge is to support these journeys without making every early decision feel like a permanent commitment.
The ₹3,500 crore question deserves serious examination, backed by reliable Indian market data and transparent assumptions. Even before a national figure can be established, the underlying issue is worth discussing: specialist sports footwear may become underutilised when participation is short-lived and children's feet continue to grow.
Perhaps the smarter approach is to separate the decision to try a sport from the decision to invest in all the equipment associated with playing it regularly.
Because the first step towards a sporting passion should be an opportunity to play—not a financial commitment that must be justified later.
SoleD — Be Ready Always.
Explore the possibilities at soled.in.
References and further reading
- Crane, J. & Temple, V. (2015). A systematic review of dropout from organized sport among children and youth. European Physical Education Review, 21(1), 114–131. Research article.
- Back, J., Johnson, U., Svedberg, P., McCall, A. & Ivarsson, A. (2022). Drop-out from team sport among adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective studies. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 61, 102205. Research article.
- Zhang, Y. et al. (2024). Why do students drop out of regular sport in late adolescent? The experience of a systematic review. Frontiers in Public Health. Research article.
Editorial note: The ₹3,500 crore figure is a proposed estimate and has not been independently verified as the annual value of underutilised sports footwear in India. The illustrative calculations in this article are not market estimates. A national claim should be published only after the underlying assumptions have been substantiated.
