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Design Your Uniform

Author: Allen Sportswear Team

  • College Baseball Teams with the Best Uniform for the Season

    2014 was an interesting year in college baseball uniforms. Topping the list for the most hideous uniform was The Kalamazoo Growlers. This team took the idea of selfies and added them to the uniforms. The end result was hundreds of fan photos emblazoned on the teamsí shirts. While some fans thought the #SaluteToSelfie uniform idea was clever, others thought the end result was creative but hideous. Thankfully, when it comes to the best baseball uniforms, there are five that were real showstoppers in 2014.

    1. Boston College Eagles

    Baseball PlayerWhen designing jerseys for the 2014 season, the Boston College Eagles decided to take on a good cause. In this case, it was the Wounded Warrior Project. To bring awareness to the cause, they designed their baseball jerseys to reflect this. The way they did it was to add parts of the American flag to the sleeves. To get more recognition for the Wounded Warriors Project, they auctioned off the uniforms at the end of the season.

    2. Michigan State Spartans

    If you think that baseball players are wearing pants that are too tight, you will love the Michigan State Spartans uniforms. For their 2014 season, they decided to go with a throwback look that represents the early days of baseball. With wide-legged pants alongside a vintage button-down jersey, this team impressed fans. While some teams stop with a vintage jersey, the team went all the way with the antique baseball team outfit complete with contrasting belts and knee-high socks.

    3. Indiana University Hoosiers

    Continuing the trend of vintage uniforms, Indiana University Hoosiersí baseball jerseys were considered especially crisp and dapper by fans. The wide-legged capri uniform pants were tailored to look like dress pants with black belts that stand out against the white uniform background. The jerseys are plain except for a simple red IU emblem on the breast. The jersey design forewent the vintage emphasis on buttons and chose a plain front instead. To allow ventilation, the three-quarters sleeves were made wide and roomy. Team colors were subtly added to the edges of the sleeves and collars. Red knee-high socks completed the look.

    4. Oregon University Ducks

    As far as college baseball uniforms go, the Oregon University Ducks took style to a whole new level. By far one of the best baseball uniforms, the team used the ìblack vaporî uniforms designed by Nike. Earlier in 2014, fans were impressed by the shiny space-age design of the helmets, and the uniforms followed the look created by them. Although they have uniforms with color, their standard all-black uniforms are far from plain. Instead, they have stitching and panels on the jerseys that sleekly conform the uniforms to the players while providing ventilation.

    5. North Carolina’s Gastonia Grizzlies

    When the Gastonia Grizzlies took to the field in the spring of 2014, fans were aghast at their new uniform idea. Each jersey had a collar, the pants were black and had a grey strip running down the legs. These complemented their jerseys that were screen printed to look like tuxedos. An ongoing hit with their fans, the Gastonia Grizzlies said they did it to ensure they were the ìbest-dressed team in sports.î Although not a college team, we still wanted to give them an honorable mention.

  • How Uniforms Contribute to Team Spirit

    Sports, especially high school sports, are special to both the student athletes and to their parents. There are many reasons to have team uniforms made. One is simply the sentimental value that will be held for many years, but an immediate and practical benefit is that it makes the team feel like one.

    Young Boys And Girls In Football TeamProfessionally made uniforms and jerseys have identical materials used by major league athletes. The difference is the colors and school logo. Uniforms are practical because they are designed to satisfy the needs of a sport. Football uniforms do not impede leg movement, while the heavy and silky fabric helps to protect the body from skidding on the ground. Basketball shorts and jerseys allow for proper air circulation and do not impede shots.

    Most team uniforms identify the player by number and name. This is important for judges and commentators who must quickly connect with what is going on. It is useful to coaches, who must often call out players and replace them at strategic moments. All these practical uses imitate the pattern established by college and professional sports, and this is very exciting to youth who have not yet achieved their full potential.

    Sports uniforms are functional for their sport, and they also provide pride to the team as a whole. People have always distinguished themselves by a similar fashion, color or other emblem. It is a deeply ingrained part of our cultural unconscious, and kids and adults today still enjoy the experience of wearing an attractive uniform.

    Most sports require a high degree of coordination, and success in these sports is as a team and not as an individual. While an individual ball player might be able to distinguish him or herself as a high performer, real success depends on working together. Team uniforms help to build this spirit and maintain it in the game.

    Players like being able to distinguish each other, and it even makes the game easier. Sports uniforms help players stand out from opponents. It can heighten the sense of competition by having different colors, but it also serves to make coordination easier. Different teams should stand out, because many games are very confusing on the ground level. Team camaraderie is one objective; creating order out of complicated play is another.

    Depending on the sport, a complete uniform might cost less than $100. This is a small investment compared to the hours of practice and training, and it gives the student athlete a visible emblem of personal accomplishment. It might even be a smart strategy to hold off on distributing uniforms until a month before competitive play begins. This compels players to earn their badge of honor and it rewards them for enduring physical conditioning.

    It pays to allow players to feel they earned their place. The best way to build team camaraderie is to encourage this sense of success. People who feel successful often are in actual performance, simply because it gives them the emotional high that translates into real energy and focus.

  • History of Basketball Uniforms

    Since the sport was founded in 1892 by James Naismith at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts, basketball uniforms have changed more than any other sport in history. In fact, a review of the history of basketball uniforms shows that players have worn everything from trousers to turtlenecks to the satin shorts that are familiar today.

    EV006111Beginning of the Sport: 1892-1920

    Although players began landing a ball in an upside-down peach basket in 1891, official rules for the sport were not devised until 1892. For the first eight years the sport was played, baggy trousers and wool undershirts were what the players commonly wore, mostly because that was their attire each day. In the early 1920s, as the game grew more popular on college campuses, league officials decided to coordinate what players wore to avoid the ball being passed to a player of the opposing team.

    Coordinated Uniforms: 1920-1940

    The history of basketball uniforms shows more coordination among players between 1920 and 1940 as they began wearing mid-length shorts and jerseys made of wool. The shirts were fastened like a current-day body suit to keep them from becoming untucked. Spalding created some of the first padded shorts worn by basketball players during this era. Women and children were required to wear kneepads during basketball games.

    Synthetic Fabrics: 1940-1960

    With the advent of synthetic materials, the history of basketball uniforms took another turn as the hot, difficult-to-launder wool uniforms were replaced by thinner polyester and nylon versions. The pants grew shorter, becoming brief-style by the mid 1960s, while the shirts became track-style jerseys. During the 1950s, players wore belts with their satin shorts. The belts were eliminated in the 1960s, and elastic waistbands added.

    Form Fitting: 1960-1988

    As the freestyle era of the 1960s began, basketball uniforms took on another look, becoming tighter and more form fitting. Players wore longer, striped tube socks during games, and headbands became common in order to keep longer hairstyles out of the eyes of players. MacGregor Sand-Knit became the official NBA outfitter in 1982, providing a cotton/polyester blend uniform that was more comfortable. It was during this era that jerseys grew more colorful as well. By the mid 1970s, satin shorts were replaced by pinhole mesh material and jerseys became looser to allow for better player movement.

    Michael Jordan Request: 1988-2000

    In 1987, Michael Jordan requested that the sports manufacturer Champion, who made all NBA uniforms at the time, make his shorts in a longer version. He wanted something to hold onto when he bent over on the court, out of breath from playing. The following year, Champion created the uniform version that is used today. Adidas became the official NBA uniform provider in the mid 2000s, and in 2013, the Warriors became the first NBA team to wear jerseys with sleeves.

    The popularity of Sublimated Uniforms: 2000-Present

    A little before or after the 2000’s, the evolution of basketball uniforms switched to customization methods. Screen printing became a less popular choice due to the popularity of sublimated basketball uniforms- the process by which ink is directly transferred in the fabric instead of over it. It is hard to pin point exactly when sublimated basketball uniforms started penetrating AAU courts all over the US. While sublimation technology started way back in the 20s for commercial printing of plastics and acrylics, it was not until the 50’s that was used for polyester fabrics. By the mid-70s, NASA developed the first computer based sublimation system and around the year 2000, it started penetrating the sports apparel industry. Initially more expensive to produce than traditional tackle twill uniforms, advances in technology and mass production has now allowed it to be the product of choice for a typical AAU or youth basketball team looking to customize their own look without breaking the bank. Sublimation allowed a team to use colors not available in standard fabric dye lots such as cardinal red, vegas gold, Texas orange, neon pink and all the shades in between. 

    What Does 2020 Have In Store for Basketball Uniforms?

    With the onset of software and manufacturing technology, competitive companies like Allen Sportswear have empowered coaches and players to come up with their unique look for their basketball uniforms by choosing  current trends or throw back options like slim fit basketball jerseys and customizable basketball shorts inseams. It’s wide selection of basketball uniform designs include v-neck or self material cut, traditional sleeveless basketball jerseys or old school short sleeved basketball jerseys, racerback or womens cut for girls basketball uniforms, and lightweight reversible basketball uniforms. It’s real time online builder allows the basketball coach or player to choose from standard and custom colors, pick any lettering or numbering font, choose from stock mascots or upload their own team logos, add sublimated patterns, adjust opacity and gradient and upgrade to a neck notch with initials. The power of personalization has exploded the growth of the consumer industry from cars to key chains, and basketball uniforms are not exempt. 

    The “loose” basketball jerseys and longer basketball shorts trend pretty muck stuck on and off the court with current basketball uniform designs showing the NBA, colleges and high schools still prefering the traditional tackle twill uniforms and the cut and sew patterns versus the more cost effective sublimated basketball uniforms, but with fully custom manufacturers such as Allen Sportswear, customers now have the ability to pick from both application methods or combine them to come up with the best of both worlds for their teams.

    Click here For Our Full Selection of Tackle Twill Custom Basketball Uniform Designs or Sublimated Basketball Uniforms 

  • Hollywood’s Exclusive Celebrity Only Basketball League Finally Looks the Part


    Player Interviews – New York vs Boston and… by E-LeagueWhile our specialty is gearing up top ranking travel teams and the best high school teams in the US, you can now also find Allen Sportswear being worn by some serious ballers in Hollywood! Eleague Productions, formerly known as the NBA Entertainment league, ordered their uniforms from us this year and boy did they get an upgrade! The league’s†past and present participants include†JustinTimberlake, Bill Bellamy, Snoop Dog, Adam Levine,†Leonardo DiCaprio, Jamie†Foxx, Adam Sandler, Tobey Maguire, Kellen Lutrz, Josh Hutcherson, Chris Brown, Kevin Hart, Don Cheadle, Nick Carter, and†Justin†Bieberthis year.. and close to 200 of the most elite names in the industries of Film, TV and music.Check us out on†www.facebook.com/Allensportswear†and†www.twitter.com/Allensportswear†as we repost sightings and game highlights from this “Secret society” of Hollywood players!Disclaimer:†E- League athletes are not sponsored by Allen Sportswear.