Does the Uniform Make the Team?

You're right. It IS the parent's issue.
The kids probably couldn't care less.
No, the uniform doesn't make the team!

a better uniform does not make the team better but it might be confidence booster if they think the look good.

Well, of course they can win and/or play their best in tee shirts!

However, like Beth pointed out, LOOKING topnotch can often make you FEEL topnotch and possibly inspire you to behave/perform thusly.

I guess, I'd shrug, pay the extra, get them the good stuff.

:(

I think when you get to a travel ball team, uniforms matter. They are past the crappy t-shirt stage. Wanting to look good isn't a bad thing. Wearing a nice uniform doesn't mean you can't win or play well as suggested earlier. My daughter was a softball player....cool uniforms were appreciated by the girls and motivated them as well.

No a uniform does not make a team. I will say our competitive team does have the silky uniforms. It's the Nike breathable material...and it doesn't hold up well. But I wouldn't really want t-shirt material at a travel/competitive level either.

The children make the team...however I do agree with others that if you feel good you play well. So confidence does get a boost.

I know when I played as a younger kid I always envied the teams that looked superb. But we still beat them at times.

After many years of little league baseball, softball, Redcat foorball and drill team with 3 kids I can honestly say the unfrom does not make the team.

Obviously you already have unforms for this year. Why not go with that this year and price the nicer unforms for next year. The money difference may not be that different. We played in both t shirts and the nicer unforms and I could not care less which one we use. However the nicer uniforms seem to be easier to care for and hold up better the typical t shirt where the supplier with the lowest price received the order.

Does playing in a plain uniform mean you are going to win? Not!

I think that uniforms can add to morale but I also think that if the underlying team skill is not top notch, a fancier and more expensive uniform isn't going to magically change things. And, for those who say "we don't always win" - um, yeah, that's LIFE. You win some. You lose some. Hopefully it all evens out. If it's the parents' issue then that's beyond uniforms. That's an insecurity issue with that parent.

What you wear has nothing to do with how you play. They're mutually exclusive.

Do the other teams have the jerseys you're talking about? (The fancy ones that the other parents want?) Maybe it's more the parents wanting their kids to look like all the other teams.

Either way, I'd ask if they know how much more difficult it is to wash though fancier uniforms...and ask if they're willing to do the extra laundry.

Beyond that, I don't know what to tell you. If they vote to change the uniforms and you want to keep you kid on the team, then you have to get them.

*hugs*

I am so tired of Americans wanting to 'look' good versus acting good or playing well. I am a dance teacher and I get so tired of the grade level teachers ordering fancy costumes without giving care to if the dance moves support the costumes!

I'm shocked that so many parents are ripping on the tshirts. My son plays on a local parish team(community). They have tshirts that are supplied to them. He has been playing for several years now and has all his shirts. Most he still wears and they look great still. My son was asked by some players and parents to play on a traveling team..he turned them down. I asked him why and he said he preferred the team he currently was on.
The boys on my son's team could careless what they were unless you count their socks. Oh my those boys will argue tooth and nail to get the type of socks they want...this year they wanted breast cancer awareness socks.
Most kids aren't going to care and a team can still look like a great team with just tshirts.

My two older daughters play full time travel softball. This is the first year they've played full time - both have two sets of uniforms. The girls LOVE their uniforms. To me, it is kind of like a 'reward' for having worked so hard and earned a spot on the travel team - they get a better uniform. They have also played rec ball and worn the 'tee shirt' and were fine with that, for rec ball. You are right, the uniform doesn't make the team, but it can give them the confidence to play well or to not be intimidated in tournaments.

Fancier, silkier shirts are just one of the many poor choices parents make, in my opinion. I've seen too many families with nothing saved for their children's education who choose to spend 1000s in gas, sports equipment, trophies, even "rewards" for goals/touchdowns/baskets scored... Personally, I am a huge sports fan, but that doesn't mean that my kids will be on travelling teams for multiple sports starting in kindergarten. Just my opinion :)

I think a traveling team is a better class of team and should look the part. It makes no difference as to how they play, it is how they are perceived. They are perceived as not a worthy opponent if they are not dressed the part.

I see this all the time in traveling with my oldest grandson and my BFF's son. The teams that come in tee shirts and shorts are sort of discounted. They don't look professional. I know that kids aren't professionals yet but they are playing in a league higher than the average kid.

They should look the part and have nicer uniforms.

Why are you choosing this issue to pick apart? This makes me curios. I would suspect the uniform they want to buy is expensive...ask for a compromise. A less expensive uniform and you'll agree.

I would actually just have the parents vote on it and if you don't like it you could go back to regular soccer.

For little kids on the community teams tee shirts and what ever shorts they can buy at Walmart is fine. But for a select team like a traveling team they need to be better dressed.

PS. Tee shirts have cotton in them, cotton fades in sunlight, it fades in city water that adds tons of chlorine to the water to make it safe to drink, it wrinkles and looks cheap. Poly/cotton tees do not look good for long and they don't travel well.

Our team shirts have always been the slicker kind. They breathe, they stretch, they are really more comfortable than tees.

My grand kids still wear some of their past team shirts. From soccer, T-Ball, softball, etc...I still have one from when I played softball. It was that material that had tiny holes in it like men's swim suit liners. It stands up way better than items containing cotton.

My children don't play sports, but do belong to other organizations that have uniforms. To me as long as the uniforms are neat and identify them as a team then that should be fine.

However, if all the other travel teams have the fancy uniforms, then they should have them also.