How to get teamwear sizing right the first time
Sizing is the one part of a teamwear order that cannot be undone. A colour can be corrected and a logo can be repositioned, but a squad wearing the wrong size will simply not wear the kit — and by the time that is obvious, the season has started. This guide explains what the numbers in a size chart actually mean, the fastest reliable way to confirm a size, and how to turn a squad list into a size breakdown you can send with an enquiry.
Why sizing goes wrong more often than anything else
When a teamwear order comes back wrong, it is almost never the fabric or the print. It is the fit. Three things cause it:
- A size label is not a measurement. One supplier's Large and another supplier's Large can differ by several centimetres across the chest, because each is cut from a different block. The letter on the label is shorthand, not a standard.
- Recreational sizing is not sportswear sizing. A player used to a loose casual top will find the same letter in a playing jersey cut closer to the body. Players then ask for a size up and end up with something that suits nobody.
- Orders are placed on averages. Someone collects the squad list, sees that most players take a Medium, and orders accordingly. The two players at the ends of the distribution — the very tall and the very small — are the ones who end up unhappy.
None of these is a reason to guess. They are all reasons to confirm before you commit.
Body measurements or garment measurements?
This is the single most useful question to ask a teamwear supplier, and the one most buyers never ask: is the size chart giving body measurements or garment measurements?
| Type | What the numbers describe | How you use it |
|---|---|---|
| Body measurements | The body the garment is designed to fit — chest, waist, hip and inseam measured on the wearer. | You measure the player; the supplier's block already includes the ease. |
| Garment measurements | The finished garment laid flat — chest width, body length and sleeve length measured on the garment itself. | You compare against a garment that already fits, which removes player-to-player variability entirely. |
Both are valid, but they are not interchangeable, and mixing them up is how a perfectly good size chart produces a badly sized order. If a chart does not say which one it is, ask. If the answer is garment measurements, also check whether chest is given as a flat width or as a full circumference — the difference is a factor of two.
The reliable shortcut: measure a garment that already fits
The most accurate sizing method is not measuring people. It is measuring clothing.
Ask two or three players of different builds to bring in a top they already wear comfortably for the same sport. Lay each one flat and measure three things:
- Chest width — armpit to armpit, straight across, garment flattened.
- Body length — from the highest point of the shoulder down to the hem.
- Sleeve length — from the shoulder seam to the end of the sleeve, along the outside of the arm.
Those three numbers, taken from garments already known to fit, are worth more than a page of body measurements. They also make the conversation with a supplier unambiguous: you are not describing a person, you are describing a piece of clothing — and that is exactly what the factory cuts.
Sampling before you commit to a full run
Wherever fit matters — a new supplier, a new garment style, a growing squad — a sample is the cheapest insurance available. It answers what a chart cannot: whether the shoulder sits where it should, whether the sleeve is long enough on a shooting guard, whether the hem stays put.
The useful way to sample is not to order one piece in an average size. Order one in the size most of the squad will wear and one at the edge of your range, then have two players of genuinely different builds try them on. A sample that fits only the middle of your squad has not tested anything.
We provide a digital mock-up so layout and colour can be approved before anything is cut, and a physical sample where fit and hand-feel need checking. Sampling adds a step to the timeline, which is why it belongs at the start of planning rather than at the end.
Turning a squad list into a size breakdown
A size breakdown is simply a count of how many pieces you need in each size. It is the difference between an enquiry that can be quoted straight away and one that generates a week of emails.
- Collect sizes honestly. Ask players for the size they wear in team kit, not the size they wear in casual clothing.
- Flag your outliers. Note the tallest and smallest players separately. If they need sizes outside the standard range, that is a specification point, not an afterthought.
- Order a small buffer. A few spare pieces in the middle sizes covers a late arrival or a shirt lost mid-season.
- Keep the record. Store the final breakdown alongside your artwork. Next season's reorder starts from it, which is how a squad's kit stays consistent as players come and go.
Send the breakdown with your enquiry and the quotation will be sharper, because the supplier is no longer guessing at your size spread.
Send your artwork, quantity and size breakdown — a free digital mock-up comes back with the quotation.
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