The kit volunteer's inbox
Your club has a kit deal with a teamwear supplier: training tops, hoodies, rain jackets and match socks, with the club badge and optional initials. Twice a season the kit volunteer opens an order window. Parents message sizes: 'medium, I think' or 'age 9-10 but he's tall'. Some want initials, some forget. Some pay by bank transfer, some say they will pay on collection. The volunteer builds a spreadsheet, checks it twice, and sends it to the supplier.
Six weeks later, the boxes arrive at the volunteer's house. There is a hoodie with the wrong initials. Three items were ordered by families who have not paid and now say they did not want them. The volunteer hands kit out at training over several weeks, from the boot of a car. Some items are never collected.
Why kit ordering goes wrong
- Orders come in by message, in free text, so sizes and initials are ambiguous.
- Payment is separate from the order, and some is never collected.
- The volunteer retypes everything into the supplier's order format.
- Size guides are not in front of parents when they choose.
- Handing out is tracked from memory.
Some kit suppliers run their own club shop, where parents order and pay directly. If yours does and it covers what you need, it may be the simplest answer, and we will say so.
What it costs the club
Money, when kit is ordered and not paid for: the club pays the supplier regardless. Volunteer time, many evenings of it. Mistakes that need reordering. And a volunteer who swears never to do kit again, which happens at a lot of clubs.
Timing adds to it. Kit orders cluster at the start of the season and before Christmas, which is when everybody else in the club is busiest too. Suppliers often need a minimum quantity per item or a deadline for badge and printing work, so a late order from one team can hold up everyone. Parents of new players, who have not yet been added to any group, miss the window completely and then need kit for their first match. The volunteer ends up running small top-up orders all season, each one with its own spreadsheet and its own chase for payment.
Kit ordering with payment at the point of order
Where the supplier's own club shop does not fit, for example because you subsidise some items, bundle kit with subs, or order from more than one supplier, we set up ordering that fits your club.
- The kit range is set up with items, prices, sizes and the supplier's size guide for each item, including options such as initials.
- Parents or players choose items from a simple online form or a small shop page, see the size guide as they choose, and enter initials in a field that checks length and characters.
- Payment is taken at the time of ordering, by card through Stripe or through your club's existing payment tool, so no order is placed without payment.
- When the order window closes, the volunteer downloads one order file in the format your supplier asks for, grouped by item and size, with initials listed.
- When the kit arrives, the volunteer has a handout list by team, and marks items as collected on a phone.
- Any subsidy, sibling discount or bundle with subs follows the rules the committee sets.
| Step | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Choosing sizes | Message with a guess | Form with the supplier's size guide |
| Initials | Free text, often misspelt | Checked field |
| Payment | Separate and chased | Taken at the time of ordering |
| Order to supplier | Retyped spreadsheet | Downloaded in the supplier's format |
| Handing out | Memory | Handout list by team, ticked on a phone |
The next kit window
The volunteer opens the window with a link in each team's group. Orders and payments arrive together. At closing, the volunteer downloads the file and emails it to the supplier. When the boxes arrive, kit goes out by team with a tick list. The treasurer sees the kit income matching the supplier's invoice, and the volunteer might even do it again next year.
Signs your kit orders need sorting
- Kit orders come in by WhatsApp or text.
- Kit has been ordered and never paid for.
- The volunteer retypes orders into the supplier's spreadsheet.
- Items arrive with wrong sizes or initials.
- Uncollected kit sits in someone's garage.