Custom Netball Kit Guide For Schools

It’s the third week of term and the custom school netball kit box has come out of the PE cupboard again: two dress designs that don’t quite match, four bibs missing, and a Year 7 squad in kit that was ordered for players three sizes bigger. Every PE department running netball knows this scene. It happens when kit gets ordered team by team, year by year, from whichever supplier had the shortest lead time that term – and by the time it’s obvious the branding doesn’t line up, the fixture list is already out.

The fix isn’t a better spreadsheet. It’s ordering netball kit the way most departments already order football or rugby kit: one supplier, one crest, one portal, covering every age group in a single order. Here’s what that actually involves, and what to check before you commit to a supplier.

What Counts As Netball Kit For A School Today

Netball kit for a school covers what a student wears for PE lessons, after-school clubs and inter-school fixtures. Unlike a lot of team sports, netball has a genuine decision to make at the top of the order: dress or two-piece. Both are fully sublimated, so the choice comes down to what suits the department, not durability.

A complete school netball kit typically includes:

• Netball dress or two-piece top and skirt/skort, fully sublimated in school colours
• Positional bibs or Patches (GS, GA, WA, C, WD, GD, GK), sized correctly for the age group wearing them
• Netball socks
• A midlayer or quarter-zip for cold-term training and warm-ups
• Optional training vest or tee for practice sessions separate from the match dress

Size-inclusive design matters as much here as anywhere else in school sport – a full run from junior sizes through to adult, rather than a generic fit that only works for part of the squad.

Dress Or Two-Piece: Our Take

Departments often treat this as a coin toss. It isn’t quite. A two-piece gives players more freedom through the hips and shoulders, which matters more at GD and GK where marking and jumping are constant – and it’s easier to size a growing squad in, since top and bottom can move independently across age groups. A dress reads as more traditional and gives a cleaner match-day look for teams that play a lot of fixtures in front of parents. If a department is choosing kit mainly for training and midweek matches, we’d lean two-piece for the practicality. If match presentation is the priority – first-team netball, open days, prospectus photography – the dress earns its keep.

The Problem With Ordering Netball Kit Team By Team

When netball kit gets ordered team by team, or year by year, the pattern is familiar to most PE leads:

• Dresses from three different years that don’t quite match in colour or crest placement
• Bibs bought as an afterthought, in the wrong sizes for younger age groups
• No consistent branding between the department’s netball kit and its kit for other sports
• Parents chasing the department for sizing, rather than ordering themselves
• A scramble in the weeks before the first fixture, when it’s already too late to fix a sizing gap

For a MAT running netball across several academies, the same problem multiplies – different crests, different suppliers, no easy way to see who’s ordered what.

One Supplier, One Crest, One Portal

The fix mirrors what works for every other sport in a school’s PE programme. One supplier, one crest applied consistently, and one portal for parents to order through directly.

Consistent Branding Across Every Age Group

One colour palette and one crest across dresses, two-pieces and bibs, with consistent name and number styling from Year 7 netball through to the sixth form team. Sublimation means the design is part of the fabric, so a department can run a genuinely coordinated look without it costing more to get right.

Bibs, Sized Properly

Netball’s seven positions each need a clearly marked bib, and a bib sized for a Year 7 player doesn’t fit a sixth former. Ordering bibs as part of the same kit order, in the right sizes for each age group, avoids the usual scramble to find a spare GS bib five minutes before a fixture.

We also offer vlecro Positional Patches, which can be easily swapped out between training drills and matches. Ordering Patches in your school’s colours that match perfectly with your dress or two-piece kits makes a real difference to how professional and united players look and feel on match-day and in training.

One Portal Instead Of Chasing Sizes

Our online portal lets the PE department see all their items clearly, in one place, and handle reorders witha few simple clicks. Dedicated account managers help set the portal up, so there’s no extra admin for the PE department to take on.

Sizing, Fit And Fabric: What PE Departments Should Check

• Full size runs from junior through adult, so every player from Year 7 to sixth form gets a proper fit
• A dress and a two-piece option, since departments differ on preference and some players prefer the freedom of separates
• Breathable, technical fabric that holds its shape through a full season of matches and washes
• Bibs sized to match each age group, not a single one-size design
• Indoor and outdoor suitability, since school netball moves between the sports hall and outdoor courts through the year

What To Look For In A Netball Kit Supplier

Criteria	What to check
Minimum orders	Low or no minimum so a single year group or age-grade squad can order without waiting on the rest of the department
Lead times	Ask for current stock-item and bespoke-order timelines in writing before you commit to an ordering date
Design support	Free online kit builder plus a named contact for schools that want a design done for them
Bibs and sizing	Positional bibs sized correctly across every age group, from primary to sixth form
Ordering route	A portal that takes payment directly, so the PE department isn’t collecting cash or chasing sizes
Pricing transparency	All-inclusive pricing stated upfront, with names, numbers and crest included rather than added as extras

FAQ: Netball Kit For Schools

What is included in a school netball kit? Typically a dress or two-piece top and skirt/skort, positional bibs, socks and a midlayer for training. Names, numbers and school crest are included as standard rather than priced as extras.

Dress or two-piece – which should a school choose? Both are fully sublimated and equally durable. For training and midweek matches, a two-piece gives more freedom of movement; for first-team fixtures and match-day presentation, a dress gives a more traditional, coordinated look.

How are netball bibs sized for different age groups? Bibs should be ordered in sizes matched to each age group wearing them, from primary through to sixth form, rather than a single size for the whole department.

Can a school order netball kit through the same supplier as football or hockey kit? Yes – consolidating every sport a department runs under one supplier, one crest and one portal is the same model that works for multi-sport PE kit generally, and it applies just as well to netball on its own.

Talk To Decathlon Club

If your department is ready to sort netball kit properly before the season gets further underway, get in touch with our account managers to talk through the portal, the design process, and how to get every age group sized and sorted through one order.