Soccer uniforms, or “kits” as many call them, so what’s the deal?  All travel or competitive soccer teams must have two uniform colors, one light and one dark.  Leagues and tournaments typically specify that the home team wears one color and the away team another.  Check the rules though as it is not always consistent where the home team wears dark and the away team wears light.  

Some Clubs have more than two kits, so make sure you know what the required game day items are and what the potential optional items are.  All players on the team need to be in the exact same uniforms. Players should always bring both full uniform kits to the games as some referees may make you change even your socks…

Two Year Uniform Cycle

It seems like every year we are buying new uniforms for club soccer.  It is not every year, but pretty close.  Every two years new uniforms must be purchased.  When I first got into youth soccer, I assumed that this was something the club was doing, but it turns out that this is the manufacturers.  The big uniform makers know that if they slightly change the uniforms every two years, then players will be forced to buy new uniforms, even if the old one still fits.  As all players must be in the same uniform, so any player change creates the need for the new uniform for everyone.  Brilliant marketing for the uniform manufacturer, but tough on the club, team, and parents.

Deconfliction of Numbers

Players get attached to numbers, there is no way around that, so if you are in a club with multiple teams in an age group, think about de-conflicting the numbers as soon as possible.  Too often I have seen young teams think that they are on an island and then when players move up to 9 v 9 or 11 v 11 there is unnecessary stress between players about number selection.  Often a new player joining a team will encounter a less than warm welcome as the player on that team that already has the number may feel threatened.  

This deconfliction also allows for easy guest play and movement of players amongst the teams even if you are in the middle of the uniform cycle.  It hurts player confidence when they are wearing a taped “1” on their uniform to turn that “2” into a “21” or a “12” as they now worry what the ref will say, will the tape fall off, are people looking at them funny.  It is just an unnecessary stressor.

As silly as this sounds, that stress can boil over into stress between parents and cause problems with team chemistry off the field. A little bit of work and cooperation across the age group in the club at the young ages eliminates a lot of friction in the long run.

Meaning of Numbers

Parents often ask if the numbers mean anything in soccer.  The answer is yes and no.  The positions on the soccer field relate to numbers and some players like to have their numbers match their position.

Generally the numbers break down like the picture below, starting from the back with goalie as Number 1:

There is a lot more to uniforms than just picking the number and size – make sure you take care before ordering, as once they are printed, most clubs have a on refund policy.

Numbers matter and knowing what they mean will make your experience that much better!

Please check out our entire Modern Soccer Parent section of the website here.

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