If you’re a local high school student , you’ve probably seen the variety of different sports uniforms that athletes wear to school on game days. For the athletes having to wear their uniforms to school, this could be either favorable or unfortunate, depending on the sport they play. For football or soccer players, the uniforms are updated quite often, and even more frequently for the varsity teams. But for sports like softball or field hockey, the uniforms are rarely updated. While the varsity field hockey team gets new uniforms at least every 6 years, the junior varsity and freshman teams have been waiting for at least over a decade. In fact, the junior varsity team has been sharing skirts with the girls lacrosse teams in the past, but this season the team was not given the lacrosse skirts back and was forced to use skirts from over 15 years ago. The outdated uniforms are preventing athletes from playing their best, which is a large issue. Even though the freshman and junior varsity teams are playing at a lower level, they still deserve properly fitting and pleasant-looking uniforms that don’t become distractions to the athletes playing during a game.

The uniforms are made with a very outdated material, and how it affects the way the uniforms fit players. This season, members of the junior varsity team have referred to their skirts as “tablecloths” since they are essentially the same material as tablecloths, and are being held up solely by buttons or pins. Abby, a junior on the team, stated, “Instead of focusing on the game, I have to worry if my skirt’s gonna fall off,” and this is no exaggeration. Many players including myself often find themselves having to adjust their skirts or shirts several times during each game, as they are either plainly uncomfortable or just do not look right. A sports blog website about how uniforms enhance performance also concluded that today, lightweight and breathable fabrics are in, while bulky and uncomfortable materials are out. (“Sports Uniforms Enhance Performance.” Cisco Athletic, 23 Sept. 2008.)  If you saw the junior varsity uniforms, you would know that this statement is simply not true for the team. The top is made of a thick fabric, and often never fits the players correctly. The skirts-which are actually wrap-arounds held up with safety pins-are also made of an extremely thick material. They often move while players are running and must be adjusted in the middle of games. Another website talks about how gear affects a team, and mentions how uniforms that don’t fit properly or move out of place are a large distraction and severely obstruct an athlete’s performance. (Quinn, Bobbie. “The Psychology Of Sports Equipment: How Does Gear Affect Your Team?” Gladiator Custom Mouthguards, 20 Feb. 2014).  The website says, “Your team’s gear should complement your players and elevate their game, not bring them down…When your players are wearing athletic equipment that is outdated or doesn’t fit well, it’s very hard for them to have confidence.” The field hockey team can agree with this. It’s much harder to focus in a game when your uniform is practically falling apart on the field, and wearing it to school is never enjoyable.

Other issues with the uniforms include how they look and how they handle weather conditions. First, they are simply not attractive. The team collectively does not enjoy wearing the uniforms, especially if they are not playing in a game. They are old fashioned, and are in desperate need of an update. They also do not hold up well in harsh weather conditions. While the thick material does make the uniforms manageable in the rain, they cannot handle wind. An article about the power of apparel in sports stated how an appropriately tighter uniform will keep athletes warmer and is better for wind resistance. (Boheur, Amethyst. “The Power of Apparel in Sport - SimpliFaster.” SimpliFaster Blog, 21 Dec. 2016). The junior varsity uniforms are extremely loose-fitting, and the skirts constantly fly up during games. Evy, another junior teammate, told me, “My skirt actually falls down during games, last game I tried to safety pin it but had to rip them out halfway through because they weren’t strong enough to hold up the tablecloth.” The lower playing level should not change our need for fitted and matching uniforms. All sports teams should get updated uniforms over the years to show unity within the teams and equality for all playing levels.

We are in need of money to be able to buy the uniforms. The money could be raised through fundraisers or by events organized by field hockey. Each year, we have two separate fundraisers: one is a bake sale at the breast cancer game, and the other is through a car wash run by the field hockey players. The money raised at these two fundraisers goes to the banquet that is held at the end of the season. A teammate of mine suggested that more money could be raised along with the 2 events already in place that would go towards getting new uniforms for the junior varsity and freshman teams, or even new varsity uniforms so the past ones could be passed down. This money could be raised at any time, from selling more baked goods or hot chocolate at our games, or even trying to raise money in the off season. Instead of football and soccer teams getting such frequent uniform updates, the updates should be spread out much more evenly throughout the large varieties of teams. For example, softball uniforms have not been updated in at least a decade according to the coaches, but could have been possibly updated in recent years. In some cases, the school has the money, it’s just not being evenly distributed. Certain sports like football or soccer should not be favored over others. In order to receive the new uniforms, we would need to get funding.

There are several possible options for updating the sports uniforms, so changes should be put into action. Field hockey has a large organization, and could get the funding for new uniforms, whether it’s for varsity, junior varsity, or freshmen. Athletes should be able to play in their games without having to worry about constantly adjusting their uniforms. The uniforms for all teams should be comfortable, appropriately fitting, and made of a good material. This would benefit the athletes by giving them more confidence while playing and also just make the experience more enjoyable, because the players would not be uncomfortable. There are many factors that make the sports uniforms in desperate need of an update, and student athletes should no longer continue to have to put up with poor uniforms.

CITATIONS

“Sports Uniforms Enhance Performance.” Cisco Athletic, 23 Sept. 2008.

Quinn, Bobbie. “The Psychology Of Sports Equipment: How Does Gear Affect Your Team?” Gladiator Custom Mouthguards, 20 Feb. 2014.

Boheur, Amethyst. “The Power of Apparel in Sport - SimpliFaster.” SimpliFaster Blog, 21 Dec. 2016.