A Guide to Ordering Kit for University Sports Teams

Ordering university sports team kit usually falls to whoever was elected at the AGM. It's often their first time, the committee changes again in twelve months, and whatever they learn leaves with them.

This guide is written for that person. It covers what to order, how to size a squad you can't get in one room, how to handle the money and how to leave the next committee something to work from.

Start With What the Teams Actually Need

Most teams need three tiers: playing or competition kit, training wear and leisure kit that members wear off the pitch. This guide covers how you can plan for all three. For other guides, take a look at ordering hoodies and custom t-shirts.

Decide which tiers you're ordering this year before you look at any garments. Trying to do all three in one term is how committees run out of budget in November.

Custom or Stocked

Next, you'll need to decide whether you want to personalise kit individually, or order stocked kit for easy distribution.

Stocked kit is ready to go and personalised to order, which suits teams that need something quickly or are ordering smaller numbers. Custom kit is manufactured to your design: our cut and sew option offers contrast panels and piping, and for a completely bespoke design our dye-sublimation service is perfect for teams that want a distinctive look and can plan weeks ahead.

Neither is better; they're different trade-offs between lead time and distinctiveness. For a good example, compare GFORCE custom teamwear and GFORCE stocked teamwear to see which suits your team.

Sizing a Squad You Can't Get in One Room

The next task is to collect sizes once, in writing, against a published size chart. A single form with name, size and any personalisation saves more time than anything else you'll do. Save the documents for the next year so you can update information instead of starting from scratch.

Set a hard deadline and tell people the order goes without them. A hard deadline means you get the kit when you need it.

Handling the Money

We always recommend taking payment before you place the order. It sounds obvious, and it's still the single most common way a kit secretary ends up out of pocket.

Where the team is subsidising part of the cost, be explicit about what members pay and what the club covers, in the same message as the sizes.

Dedicated Support for Your Team

Once you have your team sizes and requirements together, our dedicated support team is here to guide you through the rest of the process, from initial design and quotation through to branding, delivery and invoicing.

We'll help you choose the right garments, arrange your branding and keep everything organised from start to finish. For much larger teams, we can also provide a dedicated GFORCE MyShop, making it easier for individual members to order their approved kit.

Discover GFORCE MyShop for clubs and teams.

Leave a Handover Note

Write down the supplier, the garment codes, the colours, the logo files and what you paid. Half a page is enough, and it saves the next kit secretary starting from nothing.

Teams that do this end up with consistent kit across years. Teams that don't end up with four slightly different shades of the same colour. Explore GFORCE sportswear and teamwear to see the range, or visit our school and university sportswear page for more.