Author: Editorial Team

Here at Decathlon Club, we’ve witnessed an exciting shift in grassroots sports in recent years. A new wave of inclusivity and diversity is sweeping across playing fields and pitches nationwide as clubs place greater emphasis on opening their doors to people of all backgrounds.

The rise of women’s and girls’ participation in particular has been hugely inspirational to see. For so long, many traditional sports have felt inaccessible or unwelcoming to females. But that narrative is finally shifting in the right direction. 

We’ve had the honour of crafting custom teamwear for numerous newly formed women’s and girls’ clubs and teams over the past few years. Having a smart, personalised kit designed specifically for their club makes them feel truly part of something. Cultivating an inclusive environment goes far beyond simply allowing people to join. It’s about making everyone feel genuinely valued, represented and integrated as equals, and of course, seeing your club’s identity mirrored in your colours and crest helps solidify that feeling of unity and ownership. How would you mirror your identity through your kit? Head to our Kit Designer and have a try! 

The incredible #HerGameToo movement and surge in media coverage of women’s sports has no doubt played a role in inspiring more girls and ladies to lace up their boots. When elite athletes like the Lionesses receive the respect, recognition and adulation they deserve, it paves the way for future generations to follow their dreams into sport. 

But we’ve also seen grassroots clubs make strides in ensuring their cultures are welcoming to participants from all walks of life – regardless of gender, race, ability or background. From developing dedicated recruitment campaigns to facility upgrades that improve accessibility and provisions, the efforts to build inclusive communities have been brilliant. 

As a company, we feel privileged to play a small role in facilitating these positive changes. Seeing our custom teamwear being sported with immense pride by a diverse array of grassroots teams across the UK is the greatest reward. The vibrant colours, unique designs and personalised identities allow players’ differences to be represented and celebrated. Check out Kit Gallery to see more. 

After all, diversity is something that should be embraced – because a variety of perspectives, experiences and understandings is what allows any team to truly thrive. Here’s to a future of sports being enjoyed by all people, equally and without barriers. The grassroots game is undoubtedly richer for it. 

When it comes to designing your custom teamwear, there are a few things you might like to consider when ensuring the happiness of the whole playing field! 

Have a think about the following design elements of your personalised kit, which can lend a hand in promoting diversity and inclusion in the sporting world: 

1. Cultural Patterns and Symbols 
   Incorporating traditional patterns, colours, or symbols that represent different ethnicities or cultural backgrounds can celebrate the team’s diversity. This fosters a sense of pride and belonging for athletes from various cultures. 
2. Inclusive Imagery 
   Using imagery that challenges gender stereotypes and represents underrepresented groups like women, LGBTQ+ athletes, or athletes with disabilities can promote inclusivity. This helps create a welcoming environment for all athletes.
3. Empowering Slogans and Messages 
   Printing empowering slogans or messages that promote equality, respect, and acceptance on the kits can raise awareness and start conversations about diversity and inclusion in sports. 
4. Inclusive Colour Schemes 
   Choosing colour schemes that represent and celebrate diversity, such as the rainbow colours associated with the LGBTQ+ community or colours significant to different cultures, can be a powerful statement of inclusivity. You can have a play around with these colour schemes on Decathlon Club Kit Designer. 
5. Adaptive Design Features 
   Incorporating adaptive design features, such as adjustable waistbands or pockets for assistive devices, can make the kits more accessible and inclusive for athletes with disabilities. 
6. Customisable Options 
   Offering customisable options, such as the ability to choose pronouns or names on the kits, can create a more inclusive and personalised experience for athletes of all identities and backgrounds. 
7. Inclusive Sizing  
   Ensuring your kit includes sizes appropriate for all team members is super important! To play a good game, you’ve got to be comfortable. Check out our size guide to make sure you’re getting your order just right. 

By thoughtfully incorporating these design elements, custom teamwear can celebrate diversity, promote a sense of belonging, and create a more inclusive and welcoming environment for athletes from all backgrounds. If you need some inspiration, check out the Kit Gallery to see what other grassroots teams are up to! 

Here at Decathlon Club, we’re proud to say that all of the custom teamwear we produce is coloured & detailed using full sublimation printing’… but, what does that actually mean?

Sublimation is a scientific term that describes the process of a solid material being converted directly into a gas state, skipping the ‘liquid’ phase entirely. This is the exact process that makes sublimation printing different to traditional vinyl heat transfer. You can get an idea of the end result by having a look at our personalised kit gallery!

Traditional heat-transfer textile printing involves choosing a base clothing item in the desired colour, then applying logos or other design details to a layer of vinyl or other material, which is then transferred onto the clothing using heat and pressure.

HEAT-TRANSFER VS SUBLIMATION

Standard heat-transfer printing can be applied to any clothing or material, and can often be a little cheaper than sublimating because there are more suppliers available. However, the logos and designs applied using this method are far less durable, making it undesirable for personalised kit and custom teamwear which needs to survive more rigorous use than normal clothing.

Full sublimation printing works using heat & pressure in a similar way, but rather than transfer the design to a layer sitting on top of the material, the dyes are vaporised and propelled into the actual fabric of the clothing so that the colours become a part of the material itself, on a molecular level.

PRINTING ON FABRIC

Sublimated designs will never crack or peel and can be applied to the entire garment, allowing for more extravagant all-over patterns. It only works on polyester-based materials, but that’s what makes sublimation so ideal for personalised kit and customised football kit, where all-over designs are standard and polyester is the material of choice due to its robust durability & natural moisture-wicking capability.So, in case you weren’t already, now you’re an expert on sports kit printing! So head to our Kit Designer and make a start!

When it’s time for your club to get some new kit, the biggest – and most fun – part of the job is making sure that you get the look right. Our custom teamwear is fully personalised, so you can get every detail you want – from the pattern down to the logo, from the shape of the neck down to the type of zip or pocket.

Thanks to our fully-sublimated kit options, your designs will stay looking great as they’re printed directly onto the fabric – so there’s no cracking or peeling.

We have a brilliant in-house design team that’s a completely free part of our kit service, but for those of you who like to be a bit more hands on with the design, we have our very own interactive kit designer on our website. Here, you can create designs from scratch, or you can start from our templates.

Once in the kit designer, you can add your logo, change the colour or use a pattern, change the size and shape of the patterns, logos and text you use – and more.

INTERACTIVE KIT BUILDER

The design updates right in front of you, so you can easily edit the design to suit your needs and try different things until you get it right. And if you get stuck or have questions, our design team are on-hand to help.

When you’re happy with your design, you create a CAD (computer aided design) which you sign off when you’re 100% content, and then we use this to print your designs onto the materials. It’s that simple!