People have been physically competing for a very long time. Since the establishment of the Olympics in the year 776 BCE. Footwear wasn’t worn at the time and people even chose to compete in the nude. Many other sports like football came into existence later on and started out without any regulated uniforms. But eventually, uniforms became a part of the industry that sports have grown to become. Today replicas of popular uniforms are being sold like the MLB jersey.
Even though the Olympics took a long time to come back, other games were gaining popularity. Football is said to have been an exercise for Chinese soldiers long back and American football was only invented in the 1800s. The safety of the players was not much of a concern back then and sporting events hadn’t become popular enough for the introduction of uniforms. The early 1900s saw uniforms being introduced in the Olympics. These were either made out of cotton or wool. By the late 1900s, sports clothing began to look similar to what we see today. The use of synthetic fabrics made the new uniforms more suited to the activity.
Sports clothing has evolved a lot since then in terms of looks and popularity. The earlier mentioned MLB jersey replicas are an example of this popularity. As people started to appreciate certain sporting events, they wanted to look like their favourite players. Good looking uniforms were an added advantage
Importance of sports clothing
Sports clothing might look cool but each uniform was designed for a specific sport with definite intentions in mind. Let’s look at some of the most important functions of sports clothing.
- Sweat – Sweat management is probably the most common factor among sports clothing. Sweating is a natural process and physical exertion is unavoidable in these cases. Professional clothing absorbs sweat and keeps participants cool whereas traditional fabrics wouldn’t be able to get the job done. This is also subject to change depending on the sport.
- Comfort – This might be an arguable function as some think comfort is not a necessity. But it is wrong to think you can win without being comfortable while playing. The fabric used should be breathable thereby not causing suffocation. As most sports require the participants to be flexible, the fit of the clothing should also be appropriate. The player also has to wear it for long periods at a time. Making use of appropriate fabric blends solves this problem.
- Durability – Sports can be physically challenging and hence the clothing used should be prepped for receiving lots of wear and tear. Stretching and rough use are very common and this is dealt with in the designing phase. Uniforms are designed to take anything the sport might throw at it. Even then they are often replaced due to tears and other damage.
- Safety – Every sport comes with a risk and measures are being taken to reduce these risks without affecting the sport. Proper clothing and gear is a very important method of doing so. This applies to all players, professional and amateurs. The quality of safety gear should be checked thoroughly. Regardless of their experience, all participants are equally susceptible to accidents and the use of the proper gear is vital in protecting them.
Clothing has come a long way in sports from men running nude to uniform replicas being made available to the public. Wearing the proper uniform suited to the sport being played helps in everything including winning.