When you or your child is part of a sports team, there's always a few things that need to be purchased. The first, any gear you may need, so for example, a tennis racket, a baseball glove or bat, basketball, etc. After that, you'll need team uniforms. These are necessary to any organized sports team and vitally important. You may wonder, why are team uniforms important?

There are several reasons why team uniforms are important. We'll break them down so you can understand how something so simple as matching shirts can have such a large impact not only on the players but also on the sport itself.

1. It allows you to easily see who is who on the team. That's right, sports would be a lot more confusing for spectators if team uniforms didn't exist. These uniforms unite an entire group of players visually, which makes it much easier for you to know who is who on the field. Sports are all fast moving, and with a lot of players on the field or the court, without uniforms, it could get confusing as to who is who, and even what team they are on. This benefits viewers and players in easily seeing that the person right next to them is not wearing the right team colors, so it's important to keep the ball away from them, and spectators can more easily tell who has possession of the ball or just made that amazing shot.
2. Equality. Every single player on the team is important, and team uniforms are a great way to show that. Not everyone will have the same position, so some may be sitting on a bench a bit more while others get a bit more time playing, but that doesn't mean that one player is more or less valuable than others, and the team uniforms help to reinforce that. Everyone is a part of the team together, even if their roles may differ.
3. Unity. When you wear a team uniform, you are no longer just one person playing a game, you are part of a unit, which means you win together, you lose together, but more importantly, you have fun together. We all want to belong to different groups, and there's a certain amount of pride that comes with wearing a team uniform and representing not just yourself but your entire team. It's also a big responsibility because your actions then reflect that of the entire team, so it's important to always play your best, the same that you'd expect of your teammates.
4. Identity. Team uniforms often feature a number, and everyone knows that number 7 or number 14 are running backs, while number 32 is the quarterback and number 49 is the kicker. These uniforms help to lend an identity to each player out there, even if individual names aren't known. This can be very important not only to the players themselves who can find a bit of themselves in their position but also for those spectators.
5. Pride. There's pride in the team and how well they've done during the season, pride in yourself for playing and committing yourself to a team for a large amount of time, and pride in all the sacrifices you and your teammates put in. Playing sports is not an easy task, and for many, sacrifices must be made in the form of time, energy, and sometimes, missing out on other things that are happening at the same time as practice or a game. Every player should take pride in the dedication they put into their team and that sport, and the team uniform will help reflect that, even during the off-season.

If you wondered why team uniforms are important, now you can understand it. Not only is it important for the obvious side of being able to know who is who on a team, but it's important mentally for the players. It gives them an identity, pride, unity, and so much more.