The battle a young PE pupil has finding shoes to fit his large feet

What do you do when you can’t find rugby boots for your teenager who sports a size 15? You reach out and eventually get a pair once worn by a Springbok.

Those are the lengths Vanessa Paterson, the mother of 14-year-old Scott, had to go to, to get her son the right size shoe after he joined the Grey High School rugby team.

So, it was no surprise when he could not find a boot, come rugby time.

After asking around, Vanessa said, a friend got in touch with Martin Nefdt Agencies, the Eastern Cape principal agent for Puma Sportswear and Springboks sponsor, and asked them to help out.

“A short while later I got a call asking if I had received my package from Martin Nefdt who had sent me boots from [one of the Springboks players] and I said 'what'?'" she said.

The bright yellow Puma boots bear the Springbok logo, a South African flag and the number 4 on them.

Nefdt said the shoes were a size 14 that had belonged to a Springbok player.

Scott and Vanessa have got used to the reality of a teenager whose shoe size is bigger than his age and take it with a sense of humour.

“For most of this oke's (Scott) life we've had to go from physical to online stores and back, looking for shoes that fit him.

“Sometimes when we eventually find something online, it's crazy expensive. So when he joined the rugby team this year I said 'well, you might have to play barefoot, buddy'," Vanessa said.

With the Grey High School rugby team's general shoe colour being black, Scott now stands out with his Springbok boots.

“When he got his bright boots, the school called me and said that was quite a shoe, but I knew exactly what they meant,” Vanessa joked.

Scott said he mostly wore flip flops.

“It's quite a mission to get the correct size and though we do eventually find the right shoes and yes it is a bit easier online, they're just way too expensive, so I wear flip flops for most of my life,” chuckled Scott.

He said he was  in grade four that the family realised his feet were outgrowing him.

“Everyone who knows me by now has got used to my feet and so have I, so it's just like whatever,” he said.

Along the way, Scott's feet have landed him in several humorous and unusual circumstances, such as the time his 4th grade teacher realised his own feet were smaller than Scott's.

“This one time when we had physical training my teacher noticed my shoes were too tight and he jokingly said he wished he could have them so I casually just handed them to him because I didn't need them any more and they fitted him,” Scott said.

He also received an unusual birthday gift from his younger brother, just for laughs, Vanessa said.

“Even though he basically lives in flip flops, his feet hang over at the back because there are no bigger sizes.

“So my younger child took two pairs of flip flops, cut them in half, pasted them together and made one long pair for Scott's birthday,” she said.

“But seriously, shopping for shoes and socks for him is a nightmare and I worry that his feet may still grow bigger and I don't know what I'll do.

“People say there are websites to shop for people with big feet but the truth is you also need a big wallet to shop there.”