Read a related story: click here PROMOTION: STEVENSONS | 27


Out with the old, in with the new


Comfortable, high-performing and customisable, modern sports kit is a far cry from the heavy cotton fare of yesteryear. James Benning encourages schools to join the kit revolution


wind chill or driving rain in the winter months. Rugby shirts and shorts that kept you warm but absorbed all moisture so that when they got wet, they stayed wet – heavy to wear and raising the distinct possibility of soggy clothes going mouldy in your kit bag overnight. How times have changed. Sportswear has


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evolved rapidly, with performance fabrics widely available across most price bands. These fabrics wick away sweat, are quick-drying, and help regulate body temperature. Garments are lightweight, last longer and are more comfortable to wear, with the crucial result that the wearer is likely to perform better. Unsurprisingly, they are growing in popularity. We are seeing a trend for schools to choose


‘baselayers’ (also known as ‘skins’) – close- fitting, easycare, high-stretch tops – typically branded with the school’s initials on the arms and teamed with leggings. These are often combined with ‘midlayers’ – water-resistant outer garments, halfway towards a tracksuit top. These are proving more popular as schools move towards ‘storm jackets’ that act as a thin waterproof outer shell.


BUILDING A DISTINCTIVE BRAND Another advance, at a time when schools are placing increased importance on creating a strong brand identity, is that the latest fabrics are highly customisable. Schools no longer have to


Cast your mind back to the PE kit of your youth – those heavy cotton garments that made you too hot in summer, yet put up no resistance to


Considering changing your sports kit? Here’s Stevensons’ advice:


›› Know your facts – pupil numbers, core items needed, guide budget ›› Communicate with parents about the reasons for the change ›› Ask your supplier to provide design ideas and mock-ups so you can visualise the garments ›› Try before you buy – your supplier should offer a full sampling service free of charge ›› Build in enough time – we recommend starting before Christmas for the next September


compromise on image by restricting themselves to a few basic colours, but can specify precise pantone numbers. When these are combined with modern manufacturing techniques that allow the option of differently coloured panels and contrasting placket or collar, the only limit on sports kit is a school’s imagination. Forward-thinking schools are eagerly


grasping these opportunities. Stevensons recently redesigned the sportswear for Crosfields School, an independent day preparatory school in Reading, which wanted to incorporate its four school colours into every item of sportswear to reinforce its brand. Elsewhere Nottingham Girls High School, which turned to Stevensons as they moved to the new-style performance sportswear, has discovered that stylish kit encourages pupils to join sports teams and helps to create a sense of pride in representing their school. There’s a potent psychological dimension too: when


teams get off the bus at tournaments looking the part, it sends their sporting opponents a powerful message. Beechwood Park School is another school that wanted to respond to the trend for streamlining sports kit and teamed up with us this year. We helped the school replace two rugby jerseys, one of which was plain white (“a nightmare to keep clean,” as we were told), the other in the respective colour for each school house. Beechwood’s new single-skin, fully reversible shirt in performance fabric has the house colours inside and school colours on the outside, allowing teams to compete in both house and school tournaments while saving parents the expense of two shirts. Instead, they enjoy a better product at two-thirds of the cost of the original two shirts. These are complemented by new shorts that are just as tough as the old cotton version they replaced, but also feature quick-drying and anti-wicking properties. ISS


Ex-professional cricketer James Benning is sportswear expert for leading school uniform and sportswear supplier Stevensons. T: 01727 815715 W: www.stevensons.co.uk


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