Look Good - Play Good

Everybody wears the same stuff. In October we let them wear pink socks.

The rules have killed some of the "accessorizing".

We told our players that we would do anything pink if the whole team did the same thing this year.

My personal opinion about Breast Cancer Awareness month and what I told our team was that we should volunteer in a cancer ward or do a fundraiser and give the money to the American Cancer Society instead of wearing pink. I think most of us are aware of cancer of all types by now. Simply being aware or wearing pink isn't going to stop this ugly disease.

I'd rather give my money directly to people effected or research being done than to a brand who will donate a portion of the proceeds.

I personally can't stand it. If I were the HC, there would be no accessorizing. The visors drive me absolutely crazy. There is no need for them, and I can't stand it when the kids have to take them off because they are steaming up.

what do you guys do about cleats? I have been om teams where the hc made them buy them..others not

I kind of give it the 'pornography judgement' as far as how much accessorizing is too much for me: I know it when I see it.

I like a clean, uniform look for everyone where personal touches (under armour color, sock color) are limited. If it's a distraction somehow, it'll never happen again.

Breast Cancer Month is big for me because my grandmother died of it before I was born. I want them to choose one game and they can go hog wild for that one game, but that's it.


I do think that looking sloppy is bad for the program because perception matters, so I want players looking sharp so people will perceive us as sharp. This also reflects on the people that I coach with, to a degree. I don't think you should dictate to coaches what they wear during practice or gameday, but I would want coaches who put forth a modicum of effort in order to represent the program well. Just my opinion.

I hate visors. Had a kid wear a visor this year....


saw at one point during the season that he was fogging up and couldn't see that well.


then I noticed that he was having the manager wipe off his visor so he could see during the game.

The visor came off....


nothing wrong with wanting to look good but I don't believe in looking good just to look good.

Quite frankly, I don't care what they wear as long as it's legal, and not dangerous or hurtful to others. I would like it to match our colors, with pink being the exception, beyond a simple black/white/grey which most teams have (and most kids want to match a color anyway I think). Also, as long as the main cloth we provide (which in some cases includes socks) is unchanged, I'm cool with it.

EDIT: Just saw that typo in the first sentence. Fixed it.

They're kids. They're allowed to be individuals to a degree. If wearing that stuff gives them a psychological edge, then so be it. If not wearing it makes them feel more like an old school bad ass, then so be it. Why worry about such a minor thing fellas? How do you have time to worry? If one kid wears a visor, and another one doesn't, who cares? Maybe he has a legit reason. I bought one, never wore it though, because I was sick of getting poked in the fricken eye. I got it in the off-season and had a better helmet the next year.

I'd rather worry about if we're blocking their stud nose tackle with the proper combination block technique. We're still just as much of a team. In the corporate world, some of the best companies don't wear suits everyday. Even if they do, the guy accessorizes his tie how he wants to. Or his watch. Or his cufflinks. He doesn't have a "company suit" or "colors". Some blue collar guys still wear a badass belt buckle to hold up their work pants. It's all the same. And in some of the best guerrlia war efforts ever, if you want to think along those lines, NO one matched. Everyone has a personality, and I like that about players/people.

I usually agree with chibears and am more on the side of let them wear what they want to wear. The reason I started this thread is that this year was the first time I felt like it was a distraction. I thought we had kids more worried on how they could look cooler than their buddy than getting ready to play. I'm wondering if it would be better to have a "no unnecessary stuff" rule like cqmiller said or just address it individually.

As others have said, the rules have taken care of a lot of this. Visors? Don't like them but I have better things to worry about. Underarmour has to be team colors. Socks are team issue. No spats. Since the kids buy their own shoes that could be an issue so we only tell them that they have to be black.

We buy their cleats too... Under Armour from head to toe... we supply them with more than enough to look sharp:

2013 Practice Gear we will issue:
White UA (Jrs & Srs) or Green UA (So & Fr) practice pants (old game pants)
2 UA practice jerseys (1 Green, 1 White)
Soph & JV teams wear their practice gear for their games
UA Practice cleats at a discounted rate
UA Heat/Cold gear at a discounted rate
UA Gloves at a discounted rate

2013 Game Gear we will issue:
Game Cleats (Green/White UA Cam Newton's)
Game Socks (White UA)
2 Full Sets of interchangable UA Uniforms (Captains select one of the 4 combos)
5-Pad UA Girdles
Schutt Ion or Riddell Revolution Helmets
Helmet Decals and Stripes
QB's and Centers get UA towels for bad weather

Anything else is not necessary and just trying to draw attention to yourself... Anything long-sleeve underneath uniform must be Kelly-Green, Grey, or White.
...We provide under-armour heat and cold gear (Kelly, Grey, White) as well as Green/White UA Gloves for a discounted rate to our players if they want them.

By beginning of 2014, we will have 3 full sets of interchangeable uniforms and by 2015 we will have 4

As I said, no reason or need for anything else... had a couple of kids make it a quarter or so without someone noticing this season, but the extra conditioning the entire team runs on Saturday morning because of it fixes most of that.

This is how I personally feel. Kids want to look cool, I dont have an issue with it. On pink month/week I tell the kids we can wear pink if we all wear pink and look the same. I had two of my high school kids wear pink socks after I told them the whole team has to look uniform in pink. I made them take them off at pregame and the players that where injured switched out there socks for the pink ones. Kind of gross but there fault.

Not to worried about this anymore to be honest. As long as what they have on is with in the rules and appropriate to wear we let them go. If it gives a player a psychological edge so be it. Don't want some kid bent out of shape cause we told him to take off a pair of socks or wrist band.

Now the whole Think Pink stuff is another topic...LOL We had a big issue with that a few years ago when it first became cool. They were putting pink tape on their facemasks, cleats, basically anything they could. Looked like clowns. Now we set guide lines for them to follow during October. Wish I would have been smart enough to make pink laces, gloves, socks, and under shirts when it first got popular. Could be typing this from a beach.

Your budget must be rediculous!!

We make the kids raise funds...

Plus we save lots of money doing the practice jerseys for game jerseys on the lower levels...

It is what you gotta do to compete with open enrollment around here, a kid can go to ANY high school they want to as a 9th grader... gotta have something to draw them here.