Patent ID: 7020989

Claim:
In a shoe having a sole, a foot cover member attached to said sole, a plurality of lace holes extending in two front rows on the front portion of the foot cover member, with the improvement comprising: a pocket formed on each side of the foot cover member at a portion corresponding to the portion of a wearer's ankle; a support piece removeably inserted into each pocket, said support piece having an ankle support and legs downwardly extending from the ankle support, said support piece being of a predetermined stiffness necessary to support the wearer's anklebone for preventing an unwanted ankle movement during a predetermined activity; a cap for covering each ankle support of the support piece, said cap having an inner side corresponding to the side facing the wearer's ankle, said cap having a padding formed on said inner side thereof; a cover band disposed on each side of the foot cover member, each cover band having a first end connected to the foot cover member behind a corresponding pocket, each cover band having a second end having an engagement member; and, each cover band being of a sufficient length to extend over a corresponding pocket and to the front portion of the shoe.