High School Athletes Purchase Uniforms

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Nov 10, 2015
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do any of you have your athletes purchase one or more of their uniforms?

Do you have a policy regarding the care, maintenance, acceptable use, etc of these garments?

I need a place to start.
 
We are attending a brand new school this year. We have been told we will be purchasing a sideline uniform and a comp uniform. Since I am purchasing them, I assume I get to keep them!!

At our previous school we had about 5 uniforms that we 'rented' each year. I don't know if those uniforms were purchased with fundraiser money and that is why they belonged to the school? Never quite understood how it worked;)
 
I feel certain we will be told how the uniforms are to be washed, worn, etc. Even if they are our personal uniforms, I don't think we would be allowed to wear them anywhere except school functions!!!
 
Program owns em. We do a $50-75 cleaning/rental fee for each kid. In our contract we have items for loss (if they lose a piece, they pay to replace it), among other things like not sharing it as a costume, always wearing an athletic shoe with it (unless in warmups too then outside shoes are ok), and some guidance on general maintenance for parents to utilize.
 
Program owns em. We do a $50-75 cleaning/rental fee for each kid. In our contract we have items for loss (if they lose a piece, they pay to replace it), among other things like not sharing it as a costume, always wearing an athletic shoe with it (unless in warmups too then outside shoes are ok), and some guidance on general maintenance for parents to utilize.

I've always wanted to do a cleaning/rental fee but always was afraid of parent backlash. How do you convince the parents that it makes sense? I usually charge on the tail end if they damage them (a girl spilled coffee on hers, for example, and I charged a $30 fee since it wasn't ruined but definitely had a noticeable stain if you were close enough), and even then I have push back. Just curious on your experiences, I'm thinking of putting something similar in my contract this year because our school is purchasing brand new JV and Varsity uniforms and I want them to last for four or five years.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
 
We have a team specific uniform the athletes pay for and own. Then they have a "district" uniform that is used for UIL competitions and group activities, that is turned back in at the end of the season. Each year the district rotates who is getting a new uniform.
 
I've always wanted to do a cleaning/rental fee but always was afraid of parent backlash. How do you convince the parents that it makes sense? I usually charge on the tail end if they damage them (a girl spilled coffee on hers, for example, and I charged a $30 fee since it wasn't ruined but definitely had a noticeable stain if you were close enough), and even then I have push back. Just curious on your experiences, I'm thinking of putting something similar in my contract this year because our school is purchasing brand new JV and Varsity uniforms and I want them to last for four or five years.

Thanks in advance for any advice!


Our school fundraises for them, so they are property of the school, lent out to athletes each season. Parents are provided with washing instructions, and guidelines for when to wear them (not for Halloween, no sharing with friends, etc.).

In the past, we have charged a $200 postdated cheque to parents (postdated to the end of the season). The cheque was returned to parents once the uniform was returned in good condition. Not a perfect solution, but it worked well enough for us
 
I've always wanted to do a cleaning/rental fee but always was afraid of parent backlash. How do you convince the parents that it makes sense? I usually charge on the tail end if they damage them (a girl spilled coffee on hers, for example, and I charged a $30 fee since it wasn't ruined but definitely had a noticeable stain if you were close enough), and even then I have push back. Just curious on your experiences, I'm thinking of putting something similar in my contract this year because our school is purchasing brand new JV and Varsity uniforms and I want them to last for four or five years.

Thanks in advance for any advice!
We bring the real dirty ones into the cleaners for professional cleaning. As well the season wear and tear causes some hems and such to come undone so we have had to take a few into get 'repaired' - And we tell the parents if the uniforms don't make it through the season and new ones have to be bought, the rates for next season will go up to cover costs. They def don't want that so a 75 dollar rental/cleaning fee works just fine lol.
 
My girls purchase their uniforms.

To defray costs, we only get new ones EVERY 2-3 years. Also, I only change the warm up every 4 years or so. So my girls could in theory wear SAME warm up all 4 years.

Same with the uniform. If you are NOT in a new uniform year, I expect you to get it cleaned, keep it clean, etc.

I do have some guidelines for "you need to buy a new one" (ex: holes, bleach, etc.) but I have NEVER had to use them. No one wants to pay for new unis if we are not in a "new uniform year" so they are really good about cleaning, storage, only wearing on game days, not doing craziness like letting Samantha use it as a costume for Halloween, etc. I HAVE had to evaluate some warm ups and tell a few girls that theirs is going to need replaced, but uniforms, not so much.
 
Our athletes purchase all uniforms. Every school in our area does the same. I had never even heard of schools owning cheer uniforms before coming on this board.
JV costs about $1500 total for camp, campwear, 2uniforms, shoes, socks, bloomer, bows, bag, warmup, raingear
Varsity is about $1700 because they have 3 unis.
1 uni per year is rotated out and replaced, everything else stays except shoes so returners pary considerably less.
 
Our girls buy their own uniform. They typically wear them for a couple of years. Last year, it was about 500 per girl. It will be a little more this year because they are buying a bag and better shoes. My daughter is a returner so all we need is the bag and shoes!
 
Our girls buy their own uniform. They typically wear them for a couple of years. Last year, it was about 500 per girl. It will be a little more this year because they are buying a bag and better shoes. My daughter is a returner so all we need is the bag and shoes!

My goal is to keep returner purchases as low as possible.

As long as I have coached, my athletes have purchased everything. So I find myself being extra conscious of what I ask people to buy.

A friend of mine started a position at a school in which the athletes purchased all uniforms and other items, but had the tradition of allowing the SENIORS to choose the uniform, warm ups, campwear, etc. for the year. Costs were over $2,000. Because they "needed" things like personalized warm ups, headbands, a homecoming bow, rivalry game bow, homecoming practice wear, homecoming sweats, etc.
 
My athletes purchase all of their stuff... New uniforms last year (one skirt, one tank, one long sleeve top) were $350, warm-ups are about $100. We will keep at least two years, if not more with the most recent ones. I think this year any new kid will probably be able to buy off of a leaving senior also and eliminate any new orders unless I have a weird size.
 
When I was in high school we did not purchase uniforms, but we bought everything else on our own. That was the norm in our area. I can't imagine having to buy all the uniforms as I had 6 different ones in my 4 years, that would have added up very quickly. Not sure if it's the same there now, but our school booster club bought uniforms for us every other year, and anything extra on top of that we would have had to fundraise/pay for. We never got any extra though when I was there.

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We have a history of wearing uniforms for 5-10 years or longer. I think that’s too long, but we really go for classic, simple designs that never grow old. Even now, my kids are not wanting to get new ones next year because they love the ones we are in. I wouldn’t even consider it if they weren’t all out of production with Varsity.
 
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