We are celebrating a very important date for us and that is the 20th anniversary of the HO SOCCER brand.
In this post we would like to take a look back with a global view of how HO SOCCER has evolved from its early years, our first models, to the latest PHENOMENON and what is yet to come…
If design has been one of our strong points during all our collections as you transmit to us every year, without a doubt the most important aspect and reference of the HO SOCCER brand since our beginnings has been our technical aspect.
HO SOCCER has been able to update and innovate year after year, collection after collection, always keeping our models at the forefront of innovation and technology, something really very difficult for any brand.
Nowadays for example you can find in the market the hybrid cut in which HO SOCCER was a pioneer back in 2009 when the GHOTTA ROLL/NEGATIVE model was born, a glove that marked a before and after in the trajectory of our brand.
This model offered goalkeepers a hybrid cut made completely in one single piece, without seams that could interfere with the contact between the palm and the ball and with the characteristic Roll cut (latex wrap around the finger) on the index and little finger, combined with the Negative cut (inverted seams, tighter for greater sensitivity) in the middle fingers.
Today, this is still one of the preferred cut types for our family of professional goalkeepers all over the world and can be found in a wide variety of models within our collection.
Another reference and a very interesting model for us was the TOUCH model launched back in 2004. At that time this model appeared with a very special concept and without a doubt ahead of its time, in which the lightness and fit of the glove on the hand was a priority, using a Negative cut and avoiding the classic latex backhand of that time, using instead other much lighter materials.
The question at that time was, what goalkeeper would like to play with this type of glove? Well, the answer and the surprise 20 years later is that practically a great number of goalkeepers would…
This is in fact the same seamless or minimalist concept that is so trendy nowadays, a goalkeeper glove we have recently introduced with strength and our strong mark, in gloves withing the SUPREMO or PHENOMENON family.
But goalkeepers don’t live by seamless gloves alone…, that’s why the brand’s followers appreciate the fact that we also maintain a variant of the classic and reinforced models that many generations loved so much, such as the PRO CURVED or GUERRERO PRO models in our collections.
Precisely, the PRO CURVED model, (the first version of this model was born in 2005) was a reference at the time and still remains so today for its characteristic curved FLAT cut.
This same model with the same essence, since it has not suffered practically any modifications since its initial construction, nowadays can be found within our current catalogue.
Another of the first gloves launched in 2009, with a great technological load of which several systems would be incorporated and maintained on different future models is the ELITE PRO model.
This model incorporated no more and no less than three revolutionary systems on the same glove.
Two adjustment systems, for a perfect “fit” of the glove on the hand:
– L.A.S. (LONG ADJUSTMENT SYSTEM), a lower strap that allowed us to adjust the glove vertically, as it was attached to a plate that ran along the entire back of the glove up to the fingertips.
– M.A.S. (MICRO ADJUSTABLE STRAP), this horizontal adjustment system consists of an “extra” adjustment strap above the one already existing on the glove.
This exclusive system is now well known as it has been maintained in models such as the GHOTTA or the current PROTEK.
The other revolutionary system was the P.A.S. (PUNCH ASSIST CONTROL), to improve the power and direction in the clearing of fists, as it included an effective angled plate on the backhand, in the area of the knuckles.
And as highlights we would also have to comment on two relevant models such as the GECKO born in 2006 which introduced the exclusive and characteristic ROLL/GECKO cut of the brand. A cut that we can still find today in current models such as the ESKUDO for example.
Or the MGC model, a very relevant glove in its time, which united concepts as characteristic and different at the same time as the DUO palm, a palm of considerable thickness and the Negative cut, whose essence is that of a close-fitting model. In addition to being a pioneer in the wrapping of different latex areas from the palm to the backhand.
In summary and to conclude, since we could go on and on talking about the interesting evolution of the brand, we can say that although aspects such as the ergonomics of the glove have been evolving naturally during all these years, we can see the difference between the PROTEK model that José Molina defended in 2006 and the current PROTEK.
Also, of course, in terms of materials, with the creation of new latex formulations such as TX200. But in terms of the essence of the brand, we can see that a lot comes from the past… in models that in their day were stablished as very technical for their various systems we can still find those same aspects in new generation models in an updated form.
We hope you have enjoyed this flashback to the past and that you stay tuned for all our new innovations yet to come.
