Are you ready to win the hearts of your kid’s softball team? You can transform from a supportive mom to a total MVP by surprising your squad with a set of custom softball socks. Not only will personalized performance socks make your team look great, but they’ll feel more confident and be equipped to play at the top of their game. Softball socks from MadSportsStuff have compression support, moisture wicking, a double-welt top, and more.
When a new softball season is around the corner, it’s time to start planning the road to success. A big part of any strategy worth its salt is having the right gear. Good jerseys make you look sharp on the diamond and quality socks keep calves protected for sliding into home. Here are some things to consider as you organize a surprise gift to your favorite youth team for the new year.
What’s So Great About Custom Socks?
Custom sock orders are about team spirit. But wait, there’s more! Your custom sock creation could also help your team perform better on the field. Really. Our baseball and softball socks are just as functional as they are incredible to look at. Your youth players need to protect their growing feet, ankles, and calves from injury, and the right athletic gear plays a huge role. Your custom socks will help players:
- Keep cool while wearing moisture wicking material and breathable mesh. Overheating is a thing of the past.
- Remain protected when they slide on the field thanks to an over the calf design. Nobody wants an injured shin or skinned calf.
- Bring home socks that don’t smell so bad thanks to antimicrobial technology and odor control.
- Have more stability in their lower legs due to the compression construction in all MadSportsStuff custom socks.
- Focus on the game, and not pulling up their socks, thanks to the double-welt at the top of the socks that hold them in place.
Getting Ready for the New Season
Orange slices are nice, but gifting the team with custom socks will cement your role as an essential part of the crew! New socks let your team show off their personality in warm-ups and during game time, and MadSportsStuff makes creating a custom design easy. You won’t even break a sweat. While creating a custom order is so easy an umpire could do it, it does require a bit of thought and preparation. It’s not the kind of thing you can pull off at the last minute -- you want to start plotting before the new season begins. As you gear up the next softball season and think about your custom gifts:
- Familiarize yourself with the league rules where your team plays. Can they wear crazy, funky socks during the game? Your custom softball socks should adhere to the league rules if you want your team to sport them during official play. If you can’t go for crazy designs and colors, you can still customize the socks with players’ jersey numbers and other more low-key designs.
- Figure out how many players will be on the team this year. It would be a shame to present the team gift only to be a few players short. Consider buying a few extra pairs to have on hand in the event of a late addition to the roster. You can also buy additional socks as needed, but it’s a more uniting gesture if everyone gets a pair at the same time.
- Factor in the current jerseys and color scheme. If you’re going for socks that can actually be worn in the game, you want the socks to match. For warm-up softball socks, you can go wild, but you still want to think about the personalities of your team members.
Organizing Your Sock Surprise Down to the Details
Alright, so you’ve got an idea of how many socks you need and whether the league will allow them to be customized with crazy prints. Now it’s time to get down to the details (like which player needs which size and when to order). You’re a mom, you know how to get organized. Let’s use your powers for something fun! Don’t leave these tasks off of your to-do list as you plan your fun custom softball socks surprise:
- Contact other parents a few weeks before you place your order to get their players’ shoe sizes. The custom socks on MadSportsStuff are true to size; most youth players wearing youth size cleats need a size small, if they wear a women’s size shoe they would probably be a medium, but it’s still good to double check. You may also be able to get shoe size information from the coach.
- Coordinate with the team manager or coach to figure out the budget for new gear. If you’re gifting the socks from your own money, that’s generous and fantastic! But you may be able to get some financial support from other parents or a team fund if you ask. Our custom socks are very affordable, and many other parents will be happy to chip in if you’re doing the work of ordering the apparel.
- Order the socks with some time to spare. While custom designs can be delivered within 4-6 weeks, you also need to account for shipping time. You may also want a few days to sort the socks and get them ready to be gifted. We recommend ordering your custom socks at least 7-8 weeks before their big debut!
Ideas for Presenting Your Custom Softball Socks
Now, the fun part! With your custom socks in hand, you get to make your players’ days with the unveiling of their new gear. You’ll be a real MVP if you keep the gift a true surprise until it’s revealed. There are tons of ways to present your custom gift, but if you’re stuck on ideas, we have a few of our own. Here are just a few possibilities for presenting your custom creation:
- Put the socks in gift bags and bring them to the first team meeting or practice. You’ll start the season off on the right foot and become an immediate MVP. Some players are nervous at the start of a season and fawning over a new gift is a great icebreaker.
- Sneak into the locker room before the first game and leave the socks for the players to find in their lockers or dressing room. Similarly, you could sneak onto the team bus and put the socks there for the team to discover before they head out to play.
- Hand out the socks to parents to be snuck into each player’s gym bag or presented at home. Players at home getting ready for practice or the first game of the season will be delighted to show up in their new custom apparel.
- Let the coach hand out the custom gift as a way to welcome new people to the team. It can be hard to bring veteran members and new players together right away. A shared gift reminds everyone that they’re starting fresh with a new season -- and some fresh gear.
Start Planning Your Surprise Today
When you’re ready to put your plan together, head to our custom socks page for baseball and softball and get started. It’s easy to design your personalized socks using our on-site tool. You can choose your color scheme, upload your team logo, and choose the number of socks you need in each size. Here are some helpful tips to make your ordering process as smooth and easy as possible:
- Have your team logo or other desired graphics saved to your computer in AI, PDF, EPS, JPG, PNG, or GIF format. Having your image ready to go ensures that you won’t hit a snag during the design creation process, and our team can get to work creating your cool custom socks.
- Have the sock sizes of your team ready. Most youth players wearing youth size shoes will need a size small. If they wear women’s sizes shoes they will be a medium or large (shoe size 9+). We do require 12 socks in the same size, and a total of 24 socks to complete an order. If you don’t have 24 players, consider buying the parents and other team supporters their own matching socks!
- Don’t be shy if you need help. You can always contact our team during the ordering process. Not sure how well your colors match? Want to make sure the logo will knit clearly? Just holler at us and let us walk you through the process.
It’s time to start thinking about the new season and get your squad united with a sense of team spirit! There are so many ways to get involved as a parent, and helping outfit the team makes you an integral part of the support system. The best thing about MadSportsStuff is that your team gets to show off their personality. Uniforms are streamlined, but socks give kids the chance to show off and have a little fun. Plus, customized socks are an affordable way to bring spirit to the field every day. Have questions? Reach out today and find out how to get your custom order started!
