LONDON, June 11, 2004/ FW/ --- From the earliest days of sporting endeavour, athletes have always relied upon gloves to help them improve their game or protect their hands from abrasion, or both. And with the latest advances in technology, the range of sporting applications for gloves is growing all the time.

With the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens now fast approaching, the European Glove Association (EGA) has drawn up the following list of little-known facts, all of them aimed at highlighting the contribution made by these most unassuming of accessories in the field of sport.

Gloves in soccer.

Goalkeepers have always worn gloves to protect their hands and keep them warm. Possibly prompted by the fact that so many Latin Americans and Africans now play in Europe, however, outfield players are increasingly being seen wearing knit gloves in cold weather. For their part, goalkeeping gloves provide protection and grip, the latter often being enhanced with sponge-like materials on the surface of the fingers and palm. However, the balance between adhesion and protection can be an extremely delicate one, and many goalkeepers prefer to forego a degree of protection to achieve higher levels of grip by wearing thinner padded gloves.

Gloves for cycling

Cycling gloves help counter vibration and provide protection, as it’s the cyclist’s hands that normally come into contact with the road first in the event of a fall. They also can become massively sweaty and often the cyclist can only pull them off inside out. The simplest style is the short finger glove, usually made of brown pigskin and called the ‘peanut’ glove because of the way it looked. In mountain biking, some experiments have been carried out with a gripper glove in Velcro-like 3M material to link it to the handlebar grip that is made of the same material.

Baseball

The big fielder and catcher gloves made out of 2mm special tan cowhide are a tradition all of their own. Some Americans sleep with them under the mattress for six months before using them and hang on to a loved glove for life. Many US League baseball stars are known to follow rituals involving their gloves. For example, Mets and Phillies star striker Len Dystra would throw away his batting gloves if he failed to hit in a single At-Bat. He sometimes went through hundreds of pairs a year! The pulling on of the gloves by the batter as he strides up to the batter’s box is as much a part of the baseball experience as the action itself.

Fencing gloves

Fencing gloves provide basic protection whilst giving the wearer a feel for his foil or ‘epee’. Leather is widely used in this application because of its ability to transport moisture away from the wearer’s hands quickly, thereby helping maintain levels of grip under intense conditions.

Archery gloves

Archers wear a range of oddly constructed gloves for protection, as the forces generated when they draw back on the drawstring can be considerable, with some designs providing the forearm with an added degree of protection against the releasing bowstring. Regardless of the level of forearm protection provided, the leather used must be thick enough to protect each finger without sacrificing too much in the way of feel, which is crucial to the aim of the arrow.

Equestrian

Horse riding gloves have a controlled tackiness for holding and sliding the reins. For polo, many US players prefer to use baseball batter gloves.

Sailing

Sailing gloves are no different from other sporting gloves in that they protect the wearer’s hands while enhancing levels of performance. However, the action of pulling on the ropes (or sheets to use the correct term) also calls for exceptional levels of abrasion resistance. In that sailing gloves must also be capable of withstanding a salt and rain water-laden environment; this means the glove manufacturer is presented with a huge challenge when specifying the right materials for the glove.

Boxing gloves

Without gloves, boxing tournaments would be short and bloody affairs, as it’s the job of the gloves to cushion the blow and protect the wearer’s hands. Boxing gloves can be made of leather or vinyl and come in 5oz, 6oz, 8oz, 9oz, 12oz and 15oz styles. They can be laced up, use hook and loop closures or have rubberband straps.

The name "Golden Gloves" was born in Chicago in 1923 when a sports editor named Arch Ward began an amateur boxing tournament to help neighborhood children. The tournament's symbol was a tiny golden glove, which would be awarded to the winner of each weight division.

So there you have it. They may well not have the profile of the latest logo-emblazoned training shoe, or the obvious appeal of the this season’s premiership football strip, but when it comes to helping athletes go faster and play harder, gloves win hands down!