At my high school, us teachers have to chaperone two events during the school year as per our contract. This year I am chaperoning the senior prom again which counts as my two because of the amount of time involved. To many, spending most of a Saturday night with about 1,000 teenagers seems like torture. However, a funny thing happens when you dress them up in tuxedos and gowns. They change their behavior. Many of them become much more civilized and some even go out of their way to say “please” and “thank you.” It’s an amazing transition from the daily parade of baggy jeans, ripped t-shirts, hoodies, and Uggs I usually see all day.
This is why I am a big fan of practice uniforms. Forcing players to wear a standard practice uniform creates a different atmosphere at practice. When players wear uniforms, they tend to think “game time.” Game time = focus. Therefore, practice uniforms often get them to focus. They take things more seriously in uniform. It just looks better too.
Quick, which team looks more like a team?
I remember growing up wearing whatever I felt like wearing to practice. Often players would be wearing separate color combinations and t-shirts from American Legion teams and even other sports. It didn’t look very good and it did not go very far in advancing a “team culture.”
Today, a lot more teams wear some sort of practice attire and I like it. It makes a program more classy and professional looking. And it’s not hard or costly to do. Just white or gray baseball pants and the team t-shirt (most teams usually have one anyway) with similar color sleeves and a team hat is all you need. Simple and cheap.
So, if want to add some quick class, professionalism, focus, and cohesion to your practices, try a standard practice uniform. You may be surprised how their behavior and attitude changes.
Next post: A great way to get a ton of infield reps
