Glove Review: Selsport Elite Spirit

Look at this beauty.

Goalkeepers who like a bulky glove normally have to put up with a bit of weight, while those who like featherweight models are forced to compromise with thin backhand material. Selsport gets around this by using a lighter, less-dense backhand latex in high groove strips. It provides reassuring bulk (and a great punching platform) to the backhand of the Elite Spirit, but, combined with an Airmesh body construction, keeps the overall weight down.

This is great, but what really matters, of course, is the grip. No worries there, as Selsport uses 3.5 millimeters of its tried and trusted SupaSoft. I've used the glove a half-dozen times in conditions ranging from cold and dry to warm and wet, with lots of miserable spitting drizzle in between (ah, springtime in New York). It grips like a demon. It probably wouldn't be a first-choice glove on a wet winter night - no glove with a mesh construction would be - but the latex is more than up to the task.

There are little touches I like, such as the v-notch between thumb and forefinger and the internal stitching of the two middle fingers (always an issue with rollfinger gloves - I doubt it makes any performance difference whatsoever, but it certainly looks better). My pair of size 9 fit true to size, with the finger fit being on the snug side.

Like any modern glove, it benefits greatly from a thorough prewash. Out of the pack, the latex feels a bit powdery and slick, but a good five minutes squeezing them under the tap takes care of that.

It's a hit on all marks in my view, but I have to state my quibble with the attractive neon orange packet Selsport provides for their gloves these days. It has a velco-fastened opened along one side, but it doesn't run the full length of the packet, meaning you've got to finagle the gloves to get them in. Prewashing actually plays a part in this, because the first time you open the packet, the gloves slide right out. Once you prewash them, though, the latex on the wrist strap and fingertips 'grabs' the packet and makes them more of a hassle to get them in and out than it should be. Small point, but perhaps one Selsport will take a look at in future.

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