Spring and fall sports seasons bring a fresh wave of uniform orders for athletic programs across the country. Three sports that often get less attention than the major team sports when it comes to custom gear are lacrosse, tennis, and track and field. Each has specific performance requirements, aesthetic traditions, and ordering considerations that coaches and athletic directors should understand before placing their orders. Here is a practical guide to getting custom uniforms right for each of these sports.
Lacrosse Uniforms: Performance for a High-Contact Field Sport
Lacrosse is one of the fastest-growing team sports in the United States, and it brings with it a distinctive uniform tradition. Lacrosse jerseys need to balance freedom of movement with durability, and for players wearing protective pads, the fit of the jersey needs to account for the gear beneath it.
Custom lacrosse team uniforms allow programs to establish a visual identity that stands out on the field. Color combinations, number styles, team name placement, and any graphic elements on the jersey and shorts can all be specified to create a look that is distinctly the team’s own. Sublimated designs are particularly popular in lacrosse because they allow for complex graphics and gradients that add visual impact without the limitations of traditional screen printing.
Fabric choice matters for lacrosse. Players run the field for extended periods, engage in physical contact, and compete in a range of weather conditions. Moisture-wicking, quick-dry fabrics are standard in quality lacrosse uniforms, and durability construction at the stress points of the jersey, the collar, armholes, and hem, ensures the uniform holds up through a demanding season.
For women’s lacrosse programs, the uniform design considerations differ slightly from the men’s game, with different standards for shorts and skirt options, and program-specific preferences for overall styling. A supplier with experience outfitting both men’s and women’s programs can guide coaches through the specific choices for each.
Tennis Apparel: A Sport With High Style Standards
Tennis has one of the most distinctive apparel traditions in all of sports. From the all-white traditions of Wimbledon to the bold graphics of modern professional tour wear, tennis apparel is taken seriously by players at every level. For club programs, high school teams, and competitive junior circuits, custom tennis match apparel is an opportunity to express the team’s identity while meeting the functional demands of the sport.
Tennis apparel needs to allow maximum freedom of movement for serves, groundstrokes, and lateral movement at the net. Lightweight, breathable fabrics that keep players cool during extended matches are essential. For outdoor play in direct sun, UV protection is an additional consideration that quality suppliers address in their fabric specifications.
For team tennis programs, the visual consistency of matching apparel is important. When a team arrives at a match with uniform shirts, shorts, and skirts that share a consistent design language, it signals that the program takes itself seriously. Custom designs allow programs to incorporate their school or club colors and any relevant branding in a way that looks polished and intentional.
Women’s tennis apparel includes additional design considerations, with coordinated dresses, skirts, and shorts all part of the standard outfit palette. Programs ordering for co-ed or mixed teams need to ensure that their supplier can deliver coordinated designs across different garment types in a way that looks intentional rather than mismatched.
For recreational club teams and adult leagues, tennis apparel ordering often involves more variety in sizing and fit preferences than youth programs, where sizes are more standardized. A supplier that offers a full range of sizes and cut options makes it easier to find apparel that fits every player on the roster well.
Track and Field: Uniform Performance Under Competition Conditions
Track and field is a sport that tests athletes in a unique way. Sprinters, distance runners, throwers, and jumpers all compete in the same uniform, but their events make very different demands on them. A sprinter needs a form-fitting uniform that minimizes wind resistance. A distance runner needs freedom of movement and moisture management over extended effort. A thrower needs a uniform that does not restrict the overhead and rotational movements their events require.
Custom track team uniforms need to address this diversity of use cases while maintaining a consistent team appearance. Quality track singlets and shorts are made from fabrics that perform well across all of these conditions, with construction that stays in place under the dynamic movements of every track and field discipline.
Design flexibility is particularly valued in track and field programs, where the uniform often serves as the primary branding vehicle for a team that competes across multiple events in large multi-school meets. A distinctive uniform that stands out visually helps team members find each other in a crowded infield and creates recognition for the program among competitors and spectators.
Numbers and names in track uniforms need to meet specific requirements for competition, including size minimums and placement specifications from governing bodies. An experienced supplier will be familiar with these requirements and ensure that custom designs comply with applicable rules.
Working With a Supplier Across Multiple Spring Sports
For athletic programs managing lacrosse, tennis, and track uniforms in the same season, working with a single supplier that covers all three sports has clear advantages. Design processes can be coordinated across sports. Orders can be placed together, potentially qualifying for volume pricing. And the relationships and institutional knowledge built with the supplier carry over across all three programs.
Full Gorilla Apparel covers all three of these sports within their custom apparel catalog. Their experience with the specific performance requirements and design traditions of each sport means coaches do not have to educate a generalist supplier about the basics. The team brings specific expertise to each sport, guided by experience with programs across the country.
Their design process is collaborative, walking coaches through choices at each stage rather than handing them a complex configuration tool and expecting them to figure it out independently. For coaches who are expert in their sport but not necessarily in uniform manufacturing, that guided process is genuinely valuable.
Practical Advice for Getting Your Order Right
Whatever sport you are outfitting, a few practical principles apply across the board.
Start early. Custom uniform production takes time, and orders placed well ahead of the season start have the best outcomes. Six to eight weeks before uniforms are needed is a reasonable minimum; earlier is better.
Measure your athletes. Sizing based on assumptions or previous seasons leads to fitment problems that are hard to fix after production. Gather actual measurements, even if it takes extra coordination, before finalizing sizing on your order.
Review proofs carefully. Design proofs are your last opportunity to catch issues before the uniforms are made. Look at every detail, including color accuracy, number and name spellings, placement of all graphic elements, and any other specifications that matter to your program.
Communicate care instructions to athletes and parents. Uniforms that are washed and dried correctly last significantly longer than those that are not. A single page of care instructions given out at the start of the season can meaningfully extend the life of your uniform investment.
With the right supplier and the right approach to ordering, spring sports programs can have quality custom uniforms that athletes are proud to wear and that reflect well on the program as a whole.
