How to design personalised sportswear for schools

Designing personalised sportswear for a school football team is about much more than just choosing colours and adding a logo; it’s about building a strong identity, while encouraging confidence and unity on and off the pitch. From selecting breathable, high-performance fabrics that support your team's movement, to incorporating school branding and picking the right colours, every detail plays a part in creating a kit that athletes feel proud to wear.

In this blog, we’ll explore how schools can design custom football kits that balance style, comfort, and practicality, while giving every player a sense of belonging whenever they step onto the field.

Why is designing school sportswear important?

School sportswear does a lot more than just representing your team. It helps create a strong sense of identity, unity, and pride among students. Whether it's for the school football team or a wider PE programme, custom sportswear allows pupils to represent their school with confidence while promoting teamwork and belonging.

Basically, well-designed school sportswear can:

Improve comfort and performance
Encourage inclusivity
Enhance player performance with high-quality, breathable fabrics.
Give teams a professional look, helping them stand out at tournaments,
Creates pride among players

P.E kits can also be used as a great substitute for school uniforms on hot days and on school trips, as they offer more breathable designs while still boasting your school crests and logos, making it easy to represent your school no matter where your students travel or what the weather brings. If you want to learn more about the benefits of school kits as well as what to look for when buying, you can read through our guide to school football kits.

How to design school sportswear

Whether you're designing football kits, P.E. kits, or kits for a different school sport, the right approach ensures your sportswear is both practical and visually appealing to get your students enthusiastic about representing their school.

Below you can find a list of the most important things to consider when creating custom sportswear for your school.

Including logos and crests

Your school logo or crest is one of the most recognisable features of your sportswear, making it an essential part of the overall design. Displaying the crest prominently on football shirts, training tops, and outerwear reinforces your school's identity and gives students a greater sense of pride when representing their team.

A few ideas of good crest and logo placements to make it a prominent feature include:

Left chest - The most traditional location for a crest, sitting over the heart to symbolise pride, loyalty, and team spirit.

Right chest - Ideal for a team emblem or sponsor logo. Balancing the crest with a logo on the opposite side creates a clean, symmetrical design.

Centre chest - Some schools choose to place a logo, anniversary badge, or school motto beneath the collar for a modern look, although this should be kept subtle so it’s not too distracting.

Sleeves - Perfect for logos and crests alike. Sleeve branding adds detail without distracting from the main design.

Shorts - The school crest can be placed on one leg, with the player's squad number on the opposite leg for a coordinated finish.

Picking the right design

Sportswear and football jerseys come in so many different styles. From striped to plain and even geometric designs, the pattern should complement your school colours rather than overpower them. It's important to strike the right balance, as overly busy designs can make player names, squad numbers, and school crests harder to see.

Style such as this Pro Player jersey, which features a contrasting graphic print design on the front panel and fiery red hues with a subtle striped design. This both helps your team stand out without tracking away from any crests, logos or other details. Striking the perfect balance between style and practicality.

PRO PLAYER JERSEY - £10.95

Consider using patterns on the sleeves, shoulders, or side panels to add visual interest while keeping the main body of the shirt clean and easy to read. By choosing a well-designed pattern that enhances rather than distracts from the overall look, you can create school sportswear that is stylish, distinctive, and built to stand the test of time.

Picking the right colours

Your colour palette should reflect your school's identity. Most schools opt for their official colours to maintain consistency across uniforms and sports teams, helping students feel connected to their school community.

When selecting colours, consider how they will look on different garments and how they will help your logos and crests stand out. It's also worth thinking about away kits or alternative colour combinations to avoid clashes with opposing teams. Many colours represent different things, so it is important to understand what you want your team to represent.

For example:

Red - Symbolises passion, strength, energy, and determination

Blue - Represents trust, loyalty, teamwork, and professionalism

Green - Associated with growth, balance, nature, and resilience

Yellow - Symbolises optimism, positivity, and enthusiasm

Black - Represents power, authority, and sophistication

White - Associated with simplicity, unity, and excellence

Orange - Represents creativity, confidence, and determination

Maroon/Burgundy - Reflects tradition, pride, and prestige

For schools designing personalised sportswear, it's worth considering both the meaning and practicality of your chosen colours. Using your school's official colours helps reinforce your identity, while selecting complementary accent colours can improve visibility for player numbers, names, and logos. The right colour combination not only creates an attractive football kit but also instils pride and unity among students.

Finding the right materials

Students need sportswear that allows them to move freely during PE lessons, training sessions, and competitive matches, so lightweight, breathable, and moisture-wicking fabrics are often the best choice. Take the Focus 2 Classic jersey, for example, made with Avec’s quick dry fabric and advanced vapour management, it helps keep players cool and comfortable during intense play. Complete with fully customisable options, these jerseys are perfect for any school looking for high-quality materials and kit that represents their values.

FOCUS 2 CLASSIC JERSEY - £8.95

Durability is equally important, as school sportswear is regularly washed and worn throughout the academic year, so fabrics should retain their shape, colour, and quality over time. It's also worth considering materials that offer a degree of stretch for unrestricted movement and reinforced stitching for added strength. By selecting high-quality, performance-focused fabrics for your kit, schools can create sportswear that not only looks professional but also supports students in performing at their best.

Involving students in the design process

Involving students in the design process is a great way to create school sportswear that they feel genuinely excited to wear. Asking for their input on colours, patterns, styles, and personalisation options helps ensure the final design reflects the preferences of the people who will be wearing it. Schools can gather feedback through surveys, design competitions, student councils, or focus groups, encouraging pupils to share their ideas and vote on their favourite concepts.

This collaborative approach not only gives students a sense of ownership but also strengthens school pride and team spirit, as they feel they have played a role in creating their kit.

Think about practicality

Visibility and identification are two of the most important things on the pitch. School crests, player numbers, and names should be designed to stand out clearly against the kit colour, and you can do this by using:

Strong colour contrast
Bold, easy-to-read, fonts
Appropriately sized placement so they are easy to read from a distance
Avoiding overly complicated designs
Clean, simple layouts

This is particularly important during matches and tournaments where quick identification of players is essential for coaches, referees, and spectators. Reflective or outlined lettering can also help improve visibility in poor lighting or wet weather. By prioritising practicality in this way, schools can ensure their sportswear is not only visually appealing but also highly functional and effective during play.

Designing Sportswear with Inclusivity in Mind

Inclusivity should be a key consideration when designing school sportswear, ensuring that every student feels comfortable, confident, and represented. There are also some compliance rules created by the Department of Education that you should familiarise yourself with in order to ensure your school is keeping things affordable and accessible for all students.

Cost - PE kit and extra-curricular sportswear must be kept affordable to avoid placing undue financial hardships on families.

Inclusivity - Sportswear must accommodate religion, disability and gender.

Health and safety - kit must be suitable for physical activity without creating injury, such as remaining breathable and supportive.

Equality - policies cannot directly or indirectly discriminate against any group of pupils.

Offering a wide range of sizes and fits can help accommodate different body types, ensuring everyone has a kit that allows them to play comfortably. You should also consider providing options such as:

All of these allow students to choose sportswear that best suits their needs and preferences, fostering a more welcoming environment and encouraging greater participation in sport. Having these different pieces of kit available to them is a great way to give families more options that comply with school rules, saving them time, effort, and money when buying P.E kits.

With our Avec for Education, members can easily place orders that can be delivered directly to their home address or school promptly, ensuring every player has what they need to enjoy the game. We also offer exclusive discounts on bulk orders for schools, meaning that if you’re ordering on behalf of parents you’ll be able to cut the costs a little bit for families, helping to ensure that all students have access to the same kit. This is important because inclusive sportswear not only helps students perform at their best but also reinforces a sense of belonging and equality across the entire school community.

How to design the perfect kit for your school with Avec Sport

Designing school sportswear is about creating more than just a uniform; it's about building a sense of pride, unity, and identity that students can carry onto the pitch and beyond. By incorporating your school's branding, choosing the right colours and materials, and considering practical features, you can create sportswear that portrays your values and

With careful planning and attention to detail, your school can create high-quality sportswear that reflects its values, strengthens team spirit, and leaves a lasting impression at every sporting event. If you’re looking to make the perfect custom kit for your school's sportswear, then here at Avec Sport, we offer a wide range of junior teamwear for your students. You can also enjoy our Avec for Education, where we offer schools bulk discounts on custom sportswear and accessories, so you can design the perfect kit with ease.