JSR wrote:Yeah, I still do not understand the complaint. Our association chooses ONE warmup jacket that the whole association can either choose to order or not order but we want some form of uniformity when it comes to warmups and jerseys. I don't see the problem with this. As for other types of apparel like tshirts, sweatshirts, hats etc... there are a bunch to choose from. Also, our association chooses ONE vendor because that vendor in turn returns 10% of all sales to our assoication which helps keeps dues lower. I also don't know why you would ever want to place "A" team on the apparel. I buy the kids apparel big enough to )hopefully) last three seasons AND if it's still in good shape to be able to be passed down to the younger siblings so I love the uniformity from that perspective as well. Yeah, I still do not understand the grip at all.
This is an old argument that has some merit on both sides. You keep asking why any association would do this?
By setting up a standard of what they want people to wear the association can at least attempt to keep costs down (buying in bulk, keeping the customization to a "reasonable" level etc.). They can also try to control teams from going crazy with competition on warm-ups/sweatshirts etc.. There are some parents who make the team clothing a divisive issue right at the beginning of the season when you are trying to bring together the team. They inconsiderately come up with an overly expensive idea (that of course kids will love) without thinking about the cost to all the families.
There are a lot of people out there who are looking for ways to save money in hockey. Having a new team warm-up/sweatshirt every year adds to the cost of hockey. If an association standardizes on a set up, there is potential that parents can re-use the old one a 2nd year or with a younger sibling.
Of course, there are also the overprotective parents who worry that their kid, who maybe didn't make the team they hoped, is going to be bummed each time they see the 'special' clothing for a team. They complain to the board and make it their mission to make sure that no team can show off that they are on a higher level team by putting it on their stuff. The approach they use is to talk about 'club unity' etc. when in actuality they just want to stop certain teams from differentiating themselves from others because they don’t want to have to deal with their kid wanting something different.
Personally, I think it is good to have the association provide a lower cost alternative that TEAMS as a group can choose to purchase. It’s an easy, simple way for teams to get their team clothing. However, I have no issue if a team thinks it’s so important to ‘customize’ that they want to get their own stuff…go ahead and have at it. The only thing I hope is that whatever is done is an overall TEAM decision...not just a few parents.
As with most of these petty issues that seem to come up in associations, if a person doesn't like what’s being done...join the board and have a say in it. When it is all said and done, the important thing is looking like a team when playing the game on the ice not how 'cool' your team clothing is when you walk into the rink.
