A thread to complain about uniforms (humor required)

[Unregistered]

It's not required, it's socially "encouraged". 99.9% of the players and parents are unwilling to rock the boat and go with a brand other than the one they are already giving $500 to each year.

I guess that's where the name of the club could come in handy for readers. My kid's club was Adidas sponsored but I'd say only 25% of his teammates ever wore anything but Nike shoes. We've aged out now and would have seen something of this had it actually been occurring.

[Unregistered]

It's not required, it's socially "encouraged". 99.9% of the players and parents are unwilling to rock the boat and go with a brand other than the one they are already giving $500 to each year.

IMO it is insane to follow encouragement at the cost of your (chid's) feet. Cleats are the only important piece of kit, and given the different lasts that vendors use you have to focus on what fits. My daughter wears Nike for outdoor, Adidas for indoor/futsal because that's what works for her and I've never heard a coach utter a single word to any player about their brand.

Semi-pros with endorsements do "interesting" things like paint stripes across a swoosh, pros get custom boots so ...

[Unregistered]

It's not required, it's socially "encouraged". 99.9% of the players and parents are unwilling to rock the boat and go with a brand other than the one they are already giving $500 to each year.

Never heard of this being an issue and I’ve had kids playing soccer for a long time. Not saying it’s not an issue at some clubs, but it isn’t at many and the clubs’ shoe/gears deals typically don’t require anything in terms of pushing kids to wear the club’s brand.

[Unregistered]

This is a great thread! My two cents:

I have experience with a few clubs in Oregon and none ever forced or even encouraged a certain brand of cleats. It was always get what works for your player’s feet.

White kits are evil. Especially on grass pitches. We played at 60 acres in October back in the NWCL days and I ended up throwing away a kit because my laundry ninja skills couldn’t begin to touch that mud dried in for a 3 plus hour drive home. Luckily my kid was in a growth spurt anyway so it wasn’t a huge deal.

The clubs I know of in Oregon all started offering male and female cut kits. Which sounds great unless you’re a family with kids of both gender playing and now your kids have to keep that laundry straight on top of everything else.

[Unregistered]

This is a great thread! My two cents:

I have experience with a few clubs in Oregon and none ever forced or even encouraged a certain brand of cleats. It was always get what works for your player’s feet.

White kits are evil. Especially on grass pitches. We played at 60 acres in October back in the NWCL days and I ended up throwing away a kit because my laundry ninja skills couldn’t begin to touch that mud dried in for a 3 plus hour drive home. Luckily my kid was in a growth spurt anyway so it wasn’t a huge deal.

The clubs I know of in Oregon all started offering male and female cut kits. Which sounds great unless you’re a family with kids of both gender playing and now your kids have to keep that laundry straight on top of everything else.

100% on the white kits. White shorts at least should be eliminated completely and forever.

Shoe thing has been unspoken thing at most clubs. Like a previous poster stated: players/parents don’t want to rock the boat or be different even if it’s not technically a rule. That said, once they get to college, they the shoe sponsor brand is mandatory so get used to that. The bigger problem in our family is no one wants the same boots someone else on their team has. Once ordered a pair online. While in transit, a teammate showed up to practice in the same shoes. My kid wore their old shoes rather than show up in the same shoes a few days later. Luckily they were able to gift them to the younger sibling and never complained about wearing their old falling apart shoes.

My boys don’t care about uniforms one way or another. My girl hates the super long boy cut shorts so loves getting to wear women’s shorts since high school. Used to make them tuck the jersey in. They ALL hated that. Is that still a thing?

Earrings. I get the whole no jewelry rule but can’t we get a modification for being able to cover brand new very small piercings with tape as long as nothing sticks out? The holes sealing back up or getting infected due to putting the new earrings in and out is worse, I think.

100% agree about the nike socks. Why so hard and bad after a few washings?

[Unregistered]

100% on the white kits. White shorts at least should be eliminated completely and forever.

Shoe thing has been unspoken thing at most clubs. Like a previous poster stated: players/parents don’t want to rock the boat or be different even if it’s not technically a rule. That said, once they get to college, they the shoe sponsor brand is mandatory so get used to that. The bigger problem in our family is no one wants the same boots someone else on their team has. Once ordered a pair online. While in transit, a teammate showed up to practice in the same shoes. My kid wore their old shoes rather than show up in the same shoes a few days later. Luckily they were able to gift them to the younger sibling and never complained about wearing their old falling apart shoes.

My boys don’t care about uniforms one way or another. My girl hates the super long boy cut shorts so loves getting to wear women’s shorts since high school. Used to make them tuck the jersey in. They ALL hated that. Is that still a thing?

Earrings. I get the whole no jewelry rule but can’t we get a modification for being able to cover brand new very small piercings with tape as long as nothing sticks out? The holes sealing back up or getting infected due to putting the new earrings in and out is worse, I think.

100% agree about the nike socks. Why so hard and bad after a few washings?

I don’t think the shoe thing is even an unspoken rule at most clubs. Even in college a few kids will pass on the free gear from their UA or Adidas school to stay loyal to their beloved Nike shoes.

[Unregistered]

Girls shorts = the most returned item....

100% on the white kits. White shorts at least should be eliminated completely and forever.

Shoe thing has been unspoken thing at most clubs. Like a previous poster stated: players/parents don’t want to rock the boat or be different even if it’s not technically a rule. That said, once they get to college, they the shoe sponsor brand is mandatory so get used to that. The bigger problem in our family is no one wants the same boots someone else on their team has. Once ordered a pair online. While in transit, a teammate showed up to practice in the same shoes. My kid wore their old shoes rather than show up in the same shoes a few days later. Luckily they were able to gift them to the younger sibling and never complained about wearing their old falling apart shoes.

My boys don’t care about uniforms one way or another. My girl hates the super long boy cut shorts so loves getting to wear women’s shorts since high school. Used to make them tuck the jersey in. They ALL hated that. Is that still a thing?

Earrings. I get the whole no jewelry rule but can’t we get a modification for being able to cover brand new very small piercings with tape as long as nothing sticks out? The holes sealing back up or getting infected due to putting the new earrings in and out is worse, I think.

100% agree about the nike socks. Why so hard and bad after a few washings?

I had many a conversation with Nike reps insisting that girls wanted long shorts. I asked them if they were a: talking with girls from the planet earth, b: bothered to even look at girls playing club soccer and watched the great lengths they went to to reduce the hem line of their shorts. c: bothered to check the inventory requests for the older shorts with the shorter inseam(s)

So, so, so out of touch with what girls aged 12+ want in a soccer short.

[Unregistered]

I had many a conversation with Nike reps insisting that girls wanted long shorts. I asked them if they were a: talking with girls from the planet earth, b: bothered to even look at girls playing club soccer and watched the great lengths they went to to reduce the hem line of their shorts. c: bothered to check the inventory requests for the older shorts with the shorter inseam(s)

So, so, so out of touch with what girls aged 12+ want in a soccer short.

Given the way women are treated in soccer across the board, is it surprising that a major corporation would not be interested in getting feedback from that segment on their products?

[Guest]

What’s with soccer socks that slowly shrink throughout the season?

[Guest]

What’s with soccer socks that slowly shrink throughout the season?

This is a joke, I’m assuming.

[Guest]

I guess that's where the name of the club could come in handy for readers. My kid's club was Adidas sponsored but I'd say only 25% of his teammates ever wore anything but Nike shoes. We've aged out now and would have seen something of this had it actually been occurring.

It’s XF. Like everything else, the answer is always XF. And its 100 percent true.

[Guest]

There are "off brand" uniforms suppliers (that manufacture domestically in the USA) and that don't require a full refresh every two year cycle. But clubs never pick those brands because the "name brand" uniform manufacturers and associated suppliers do a heavy amount of kickbacks to clubs and coaches in the form of store credit and other "perks". The store credit forces you to pay the full retail price for the equipment by the way, when often you could find something cheaper and just as good wholesale somewhere else. The net result is that parents end up paying a premium for full uniform refresh every year, or more frequently if you are club hopping (are kit prices kept crazy high to discourage club hopping, does the club hopping % of players rise during uniform refresh years). And that "old" uniforms can never be recycled into younger generations of players because the style is always changing enough that you feel compelled to buy full new kits. If this bugs you then go ask your club for full transparency on their uniform deals, but it seems to be just the way things work.

[Guest]

To the person at XF who had the job to pick a really ugly colour for the travel shirt: you have understood the assignment!

[Guest]

I’d hate to be a Titans family right now…