Athletes are harder to shop for than most people assume, because they already own the equipment their sport requires. Most of that gear was bought by the program or by a parent months before the season started. The sports merchandise on a store shelf carries a professional team's logo, which is not the team they play for.
Custom gear sits between those two problems, and it can be made in the athlete's own colors. A mini helmet, a hoodie, a magnet or a set of decals can carry their name or their jersey number. This guide covers those four products and what each one asks of you before you place an order.
A custom gift works when it carries something specific to the athlete who receives it. Generic sports merchandise carries a logo the player has no connection to, which is the common failure in this category. Gear in their own team's colors, with their own name or number on it, belongs to them in a way a store-bought item does not.
There are three things worth looking for when you choose. The item should carry the team's own mark rather than a professional team's logo. It should include a name or a jersey number where the product allows personalization. It should be something the athlete can display or wear away from practice, which extends its use past the season.
Most people buying a gift for an athlete run into the same problem. You often do not know the roster number, the exact team colors, the apparel size, or what gear the player already owns. Each of the four products below handles that problem differently, and two of them need less information from you than the others.
Mini helmets and custom magnets are both sold as individual items, which makes them the simplest gifts to order for one person. Neither one requires a size, and neither needs you to coordinate with anyone else before ordering. Both also carry personalization, so the finished item names the athlete rather than the team alone.
A custom mini football helmet stands five inches tall and arrives assembled and decorated. You choose the helmet color from nine shades and the facemask color from ten, which covers most school color combinations. There are nine stripe patterns available, including Single Stripe, Multi-Stripe, Bronco, Panther, Raven/Titan, Revolution, Split Tapered and Tapered.
The helmet carries sweatband and neckband text fields, so a player's name or number goes onto the helmet itself. The build runs to an ABS shell with interior padding, a plastic-coated wire facemask, and a flexible felt-lined snap-on chin strap. The decals are vinyl with 3M adhesive, which is the same construction used on full-size helmets.
A display case is available as an add-on for anyone who wants the helmet kept rather than handled. The case is clear acrylic with UV protection, and its inside dimensions are 7.28" wide by 5.19" high by 5.06" deep.
Custom magnets suit a smaller gift, and they also work as a gift for the family rather than the player. Name and Number Magnets and Classic Locker Magnets both carry personalization, so a player's name and jersey number go onto the magnet. A locker magnet goes inside the player's locker at school, where the team sees it through the season.
Custom automobile magnets go on a parent's or grandparent's car instead. Cut-to-Shape Magnets are printed on 20-mil magnet stock in unlimited colors, at up to 36 square inches, and they are trimmed to the outline of the design. Free design proofing applies, which means the artwork is checked before anything is printed.
The same magnets are often used for team fundraising rather than for gifts, which is covered in fundraising with custom magnets. A parent buying one as a present is ordering the same product in a smaller quantity. Locker magnets come in a range of shapes and sizes, so the gift version can differ from the fundraising version.
Hoodies and helmet decals both carry a minimum, which changes who the gift suits rather than ruling it out. A hoodie minimum is small enough for a family or a group of teammates to meet. A decal order covers a roster, so it works as a gift from a group rather than from one person.
Custom hoodies carry a minimum order of five units, which is a reachable number for several gift situations. A family can cover a player, two parents and a sibling in one order. A group of teammates can go in together on matching hoodies for the whole position group.
There are 28 fleece styles available, including the Heavy Blend Hooded Sweatshirt, the C2 Fleece Hoodie, the NuBlend Pullover Hooded Sweatshirt and tie-dyed pullover hoodies. Youth and adult sizes run from XS to 4XL, so a mixed order covers a player and the adults buying it. A custom hooded sweatshirt can be decorated by DTF, screen printing or embroidery, and there is no art charge on the design work.
If the program already runs an online store, families order their own sizes directly through it. That route avoids anyone fronting a bulk order or collecting sizes by hand, and it suits a booster club more than an individual buyer. The fleece range is covered in more detail in this guide to fleece jackets and hoodies.
Custom helmet decals are roster items rather than individual presents, because a set is ordered for a whole team. The gift version of this is a group buy, where a parent group funds a new set of decals for the season ahead. That suits a booster club or a group of families rather than one person shopping alone.
Finishes include classic, chrome, matte, metallic flake and holographic, and each one behaves differently under stadium lights. A chrome or holographic set reads as an upgrade on a standard finish, which is what makes it suitable as a gift to a program. The differences between the finishes are covered in the helmet decal finish guide.
Each product needs different information from you, and two of them need less than the others. Mini helmets need colors rather than sizes, which are easier to find out without asking the athlete directly. The color chart shows what is available, and school colors are usually published on the athletics page of the school website. Magnets need a name and a jersey number, which a teammate or another parent can usually supply.
Apparel needs a size, which is the hardest detail to guess and the one most likely to be wrong. A gift ordered through a team's online store lets the recipient choose their own size, which removes the problem. Free design proofing applies across the custom products, so you see the artwork before anything is made.
Custom gear carrying their own team's colors and their name or number suits most high school athletes. Mini helmets and personalized magnets can be ordered individually, and hoodies carry a minimum order of five units.
The minimum order on custom hoodies is five units. A family ordering for a player and several relatives, or a group of teammates ordering together, reaches that number without difficulty.
Mini helmets include sweatband and neckband text fields, so a name or jersey number is printed on the helmet itself. You also choose the helmet color, facemask color and stripe pattern.
A locker magnet is a smaller personalized item that goes inside a player's locker at school. A car magnet is cut to the shape of the design and goes on a vehicle, which makes it a common gift for parents and grandparents.
Helmet decals are ordered as a set for a full roster rather than for one player. A parent group or booster club can fund a new set for the season as a group gift to the team.
