Did you guess? We both wear a yellow kit of course! But why is wearing a team kit so important and something we want to encourage when you come to our classes?

There are the more obvious reasons –
Identity, the most fundamental feature so you can distinguish between competing teams and players during a game.
Unity
 – to feel part of a group, to create solidarity between players and fans and keeps players motivated to succeed.
Equality
 – to show no individual is more important than any other and the importance of teamwork.

These are all important things that we want to encourage in your children when they come to Leapfrog classes – belonging and teamwork.

However, there is even bigger psychology at work behind the kit, so keep reading to find out more including which colour is the best for a goalkeeper to wear…

In a survey, the fourth response to what would make a team feel confident about their game was wearing a professional kit, behind feeling refreshed, good playing conditions and praise from the coach – so fairly high behind some very obvious answers. Looking professional in a kit gave the teams confidence to perform better and physically able to play without restriction.

Does the colour of the kit make any difference? There have been numerous studies to determine if there is a link between the shirt colour and success in football teams and unsurprisingly the findings show that sportspeople competing in red win more than any other colour. The study established that since 1947, teams wearing red in English football have been champions more often than could be statistically expected based on the proportion of teams that play in red. Why could this be?

England netball wearing red kit

– Red is synonymous for increasing confidence, giving players/teams a psychological boost.
– Red can be perceived as being more aggressive or dominant, hence unnerving opponents.
– On a practical level, red shirts are easier to see, possibly increasing the accuracy of passes.

What about the other colours? Blue is seen as dependable, authoritative and trustworthy. White is pure and clean with black dramatic, powerful and elegant. While grey is considered a negative colour suggesting evasion, non-commitment and lack of involvement.

Yet red does not dominate abroad, with Spain’s most successful kit being white and of course Brazil wearing yellow who have won the World Cup 5 times – more than any other nation and before they wore the yellow shirt, they had failed to win a World Cup.

With yellow standing for freshness, happiness, positivity, energy and hope it is clear to see why it has become such an important kit for Brazil and a key colour for Leapfrog Sports t-shirts too!
Although this has been interesting, there is a reason why I have been researching into sports kits. Here at Leapfrog, we want to encourage ALL of our children to wear a Leapfrog t-shirt when they come along to the sessions for all of the reasons above. The t-shirts are made from a special sports material to keep your child cool, dry and quick and easy to wash! Anyone that joins Leapfrog from this month now receives a t-shirt as part of their welcome pack (charges apply) and we would love to see all children wearing these tops as part of the Leapfrog team! If you want to get your hands on one, just contact us and they cost a fab £10.95 and come in sizes 3-4 / 5-6 / 7-8 years old!

Children wearing Leapfrog t-shirts

So what is the best colour for a goalkeeper wear? Traditionally, teams went under the belief that goalies should be as inconspicuous as possible to make them harder to spot in the goal and therefore harder to aim past. This is one of the reasons why green is a popular colour for goalkeepers shirts, as green can be difficult to spot against the grass. However, research revealed that significantly fewer goals were scored against a goalkeeper wearing a red shirt, as opposed to a green, yellow or blue shirt. Although one would assume that it would be easier to aim away from such a distinctive colour, the red subconsciously attracts the eye of the striker, who unwittingly aims the ball towards the colour –  did you guess correctly?

We’ll look forward to seeing your son and daughter proudly showing off their team kit in classes soon!

Jo