A uniform(ed) decision: making the right choices for team apparel.

As the vice president of marketing for Russell Athletic, Rod McGeachy is entrusted with strategic planning and marketing strategies for the highly visible and popular brand.

Basically, his job is to outfit the scholastic, collegiate, and professional sports ranks in Russell apparel. By his count, 1 out of every 3 high school athletes across the country (multi-sport, multi-gender) wears a Russell uniform.

How schools dress its high school athletes varies. Some of the buying decisions have a trickle down effect from what the pro and college players are wearing. Other choices boil down to simple economics.

"You have to understand exactly who your customer is," says McGeachy. "If you are dealing with a high school that is focused more on appearance than performance, you should understand that it is following the lead of the pros and colleges. There are a number of high schools out there--about 25% of the market made up of private schools and public schools--with active booster clubs. The remaining school groups are more budget and durability conscious."

"What's most important for them," adds McGeachy, "is for the uniforms to last three to four years, have color consistency, and be fortified with consistent fill-ins on a year-by-year basis. You have to break it down into those two segments."

Making a uniform decision is important when it comes to team apparel, whether it's uniforms, practice wear, or performance undergarments.

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While looking good may help in style points, the durability of the apparel (how it stands up to the rigors of sport) can have an outcome on the scoreboard. A number of product innovations have made uniforms and apparel not only more durable, but more comfortable and wearable.

"I'd say the number one change lies in the moisture management of the performance fabrics," says McGeachy.

Ever since Nike introduced its widely popular Dri-FIT line of apparel several years ago, the trend is definitely toward uniforms and apparel that wick away moisture.

Virtually every company manufactures some sort of moisture management line these days. And teams are demanding it more than ever. In other words, it's cool to be dry.

This thinking is echoed by Joel Wines of Eagan, MN-based WSI Sports, manufacturers of the WikMax line of performance apparel: "Everyone has sort of copied the original Nike Dri-FIT. Moisture-management uniforms are definitely in."

Among Russell's latest technological advances is its Dri-POWER collection, especially for basketball and baseball uniforms. Another innovation is its Dri-POWER Stretch Mesh football jersey, a four-way stretch fabric that also possesses some moisture management. The jerseys were unveiled at the end of last season by Washington State and Colorado State in their respective bowl games.

"The combination of moisture management and stretch mesh makes the jerseys more form fitting," McGeachy says. "The fabric makes it super hard for a lineman or linebacker to grab the jersey."

Champion Athleticwear has taken moisture management a step farther, literally, with its recent introduction of Friction Free running apparel. The revolutionary new material prevents chafing while wicking away moisture.

"It is a combination of moisture management fabrics with the Friction Free technology," says Linda Rephann, Champion's marketing manager. "The Friction Free lies in the key areas where you would have the chafing, in both the short and the top."

Offered in men's and women's styles, the soon-to-be-available track and field line will concentrate on the binding around the arms and the legs. Rephann believes that Friction Free could transcend to football and basketball uniforms, but not before lacrosse uniforms, a strong possibility.

While uniforms have joined the moisture management trend, performance apparel still appears to be the leader, as athletes prefer undergarments that soak up sweat and keep their bodies cool and dry.

Joel Wines reports WSI's proprietary dual-layer technology--dubbed "Serious Gear" and popular with hockey and baseball players--is different than the single layer polyester technology used by Nike and Under Armour.

"While single layer technology wicks away moisture horizontally across the fabric," he says, "it doesn't take it away from the skin. [Moisture] will dissipate quicker than a cotton fabric, but it will not move it away from the skin. That's really the key to our technology and the single layer polyesters out there. Our technology takes moisture away from the outer layer and then spreads it across the fabric. So it will never feel wet against your skin."

Under Armour, the industry leader in performance apparel, also has a complete line of gear for any and all climate and game conditions. From its Heat Gear to its Turf Gear to its All Season gear, coaches and athletes can select from t-shirts, turtlenecks, shorts, leggings, and hoods.

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M.J. Soffe has recently entered the fray with its line of practice wear that incorporates a technical fabric called Dri-release, which according to the company, dries four times faster than cotton, without shrinking, pilling or losing shape.

Ironically, Soffe uses the same yarn that Nike uses in its Dri-FIT line. Soffe carries Dri-release in all team colors and is available in a short sleeve tee, long sleeve tee, sleeveless tee, as well as a male and female short.

A recent Coaches' Football Challenge poll shows that 93% find the Dri-release product line to be as comfortable as cotton. Given a choice, 77% would prefer having their teams play in Dri-release, even in practice.

IF YOU CUSTOMIZE IT, THEY WILL WEAR IT

Customization is the buzzword in team uniforms, both on the high school and collegiate levels.

"They just want custom," says Ed LeCocq, president/CEO of Victory Custom Athletic of Canoga Park, CA. "Companies like Nike, Reebok, adidas, or whoever are building custom uniforms for collegiate teams and that has created a tremendous trend in the high schools. They want to be able to build it their way, whether it's retro or whatever."

HOWEVER, TRENDS DIFFER FROM SPORT TO SPORT.

"Trends in baseball are not as obvious as they are in basketball and football, where some of the licensed vendors, Nike in particular, have come out with some very unique looks," says Ron Rubenstein, Executive VP for Vernon, CA-based AIS (Adventures In Sports) Custom Athletic Uniforms. "Of course, they are manufacturing nightmares, but nobody knows that. They just look good."

For basketball, the obvious trend, albeit in vogue for sometime, is that shorts have gotten longer. Teams have also gotten away from the traditional tank with the rounded neck in favor of a v-neck model with more of an opening around the armpit area, referred to as hemmed arm holes.

Additionally, more and more teams are emphasizing braiding and trim in addition to choosing specific blocking down the sides panels. Team names are also becoming increasing visible, whether coming or going.

"I think you are seeing more custom neck trims, like the Georgetown uniform," says Rod McGeachy of Russell Athletic. "Baggy is here to stay but baggy was news seven years ago. We're also seeing a lot of butt prints--butt embroidery. For instance, Kentucky has Wildcats on the back of its shorts."

Last year, Champion launched its stock football line, which included jerseys and pants for both practice and games. The uniforms were then shipped to the team dealer for printing. That said Champion is now offering its Select Custom program for both football and basketball. Schools can choose from four fabrics and three silhouettes of jerseys with a variety of side insert options.

Coaches and AD's then select a silhouette, side inserts, the knit trim around the neck, personal print options, and of course, the team colors (choice of 14 or combination of colors).

"We had kind of gotten away from making uniforms for high schools and colleges," says Champion's Linda Rephann. "We started to refocus on that part of the business about two years ago. The powers that be decided to go back to grassroots marketing to build a younger consumer base. We found that if you can turn the kids on to your product early, they will become lifelong supporters of it."

As far as fabrics are concerned, it depends on whom you talk to. What works for one company doesn't for another. But they will agree that durability is more important in baseball pants than it is in jerseys.

"Baseball fabrics have to maintain durability," says AIS's Ron Rubenstein. "When you start using inferior fabrics in uniforms, you will be selling a product that will never withstand the rigors of the game."

AIS uses double-knit polyester or poly pro stretch mesh or micro-mesh, exclusively. Victory Custom Athletic uses nylon. Russell's baseball uniforms are made of either nylon, double knit polyester, or its NuBlend.

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Reebok Team Uniforms offers its football jerseys in a choice of 200-denier porthole mesh or pro bright tricot mesh body. Pants come in polyester double knit, nylon stretch double knit, or bright spandex.

Ed LeCocq (VCA) prefers nylon for its durability and color fastness. "Polyester is a look-alike nylon," he says. "It just doesn't hold up and last as long."

One of the newer trends in uniforms is the incorporation of sublimation printing, a process that places a sublimation transfer printed on paper onto fabric and then applying heat (usually with a flatbed heat press) to both. The heat changes the solid print on the paper into a gas, which then prints into the fabric. It's similar to silk screening without screening directly onto the fabric.

"A lot of teams are looking for unique looks that incorporate sublimation," says AIS's Rubenstein. "We are toying with the idea of bringing it in-house because we feel that's where the trend may be going, much like what has happened in European soccer and the NBA--more and more use of graphics on uniforms."

The U. of Houston requested a base-ball uniform design using sublimation, giving it the appearance of a faded color jersey.

"Sublimation is unusual in baseball," VCA's Ed LeCocq says. "They do it in softball occasionally. It gives the uniform an interesting look."

Lettering on uniforms and apparel has also gone high-tech, adds LeCocq.

"All lettering used to be cut out by hand," he says. "Today it is cut with lasers or water jets [cutting machines] for a precision cut. And the sewing, in some cases, is digitized and computerized. It looks traditional, but it's done electronically."

Dalco Athletic Lettering is offering a product that gives team uniforms and spiritwear that professional look with its Team Combo appliques.

Available in 39 of the most popular team names, the two-color appliques are cut from Pro Twill material. The Team Combo also includes your choice of a school mascot on the top and bottom of the team name or a choice of five sport balls: basketball, football, volleyball, soccer, or baseball.

"What we've tried to do with this Team Combo is give the customer the choice between a mascot name and a team icon," says Dalco VP Mike Carter. "The other way to use this is, as the seasons change, you can keep the team name and replace the team icon with a basketball, soccer ball, or football."

ACTIVE APPAREL

According to Steve Wheeler, VP/sales and marketing, Soffe breaks down its business into several sport categories. Its largest is cheerleading, followed by baseball and P.E. (physical education) uniforms.

"When we say cheerleading, we don't mean uniforms," says Wheeler. "We do what we call camp wear or shorts, and some tops to match. On the baseball end, we're not seeing very many trends. We service what we call the institutional or league business. We don't sell uniforms."

Soffe's top seller at retail is a baseball undershirt (white body, colored three-quarter sleeves). For institutional team wear, its best seller is a two-button Henley, commonly referred to as the batting practice shirt.

On the P.E. side, Soffe's shorts are a staple in gymnasiums across the country. The company offers a 50-50 poly cotton jersey knit--one with and one without a jersey drawstring. It also produces fleece and nylon micro-mesh shorts. The shorts are available in 13 predominant colors as well as youth and adult sizes and come in both shorter and longer versions. The former is popular with girls and the latter with boys.

HANDS-ON APPAREL

Cutters Gloves has a unique niche in the sport glove market. Most of its gloves have a proprietary material called C-Tack, that enables the grip to be built right into the glove itself.

"When we introduced our gloves, they were something completely different," says Cutters president Jeff Beraznik. "There were other tactified gloves available to help performance. But they were leather-based gloves that had post-application sprays added to the leather to make them tacky. C-Tack provides the ultimate in gripability and ball-handling performance."

Cutters' latest innovation is The Reinforcer, specifically designed for offensive linemen who block with their hands or defensive linemen who bat down balls or special team players who try to block field goals or punts.

"The Reinforcer not only provides flexibility, but minimizes the backward flexibility, preventing players from hyperextending their fingers," says Beranik.