Custom Cheer Shirts
Custom cheer shirts for practice, camp and competition day, plus the hoodies and parent shirts that fill the stands. Olive Branch Apparel prints and embroiders for school squads, rec teams, dance teams and all-star style gyms from our shop in Fort Collins, Colorado, and ships across the United States.
Cheer team shirts, dance team shirts, cheer mom shirts and warm-up hoodies can all ride on one order with one set of artwork. Build yours in the design studio below and see your price before you collect a single payment from a parent.
Design Your Cheer Shirts Here
Put your team logo on a real shirt, set the quantity, and watch the price for custom cheer shirts move as you add pieces. The studio opens on a soft, lightweight tee, the kind athletes will actually wear to practice and parents will wear to the grocery store.
Custom Cheer Shirts Start with the Size Sheet
The art is rarely what derails a cheer order. The size sheet is. A program can span small athletes through adult coaches and parents, and every one of them has an opinion on fit. Collect sizes in writing, one line per person, before you open the studio, and the rest of the order gets simple.
Check the size run of the garment before you announce a color. Youth and adult versions of the same style do not always come in the same colors, and a fitted cut runs smaller than a standard unisex tee. Pick the shirt first, confirm every size you need exists in that color, then tell the team.
Athletes tend to want practice shirts cut or knotted, so they size up or down on purpose. Parents mostly want a relaxed fit they can wear over a long sleeve at a cold early call time. Ask for the size each person wants to wear, not the size on their last tag.
Add a few extras in the middle sizes. Rosters change after tryouts, a shirt disappears at camp, and a late addition should not be the one athlete without a matching top. With no minimum here you can reorder a single piece later, but the per-piece price is better when extras ride along with the main run.
Set a hard cutoff for sizes and money, and set it earlier than feels necessary. Standard turnaround is about 14 days from proof approval, and proof approval cannot happen until the count is final. The late form is what makes an order late.
What We Make for Cheer and Dance Programs
Practice and Camp Shirts
Lightweight cheer team shirts that hold up to sweat, mats and constant washing, screen printed so the logo outlasts the season.
Competition Day and Parent Shirts
Matching shirts for the travel group, with cheer mom shirts, dad shirts and sibling sizes printed from the same artwork so the whole section reads as one team.
Hoodies and Hats
Warm-up hoodies for cold gyms and early call times, plus embroidered hats and beanies for the coaches and parents on the sideline.
How a Cheer Order Comes Together
Six steps, and nothing is printed until you have approved the proof.
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1
Pick Your Garment
Three we actually recommend, with the reasons why. Full catalog is one click away.
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2
Drop In Your Art
Upload a logo or start from a sketch. We fix files that will not print.
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3
See Your Price
Per-piece pricing moves as you change quantity and print locations.
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4
Approve A Proof
Nothing runs until you have seen exactly what we are about to make.
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5
We Print It
Screen print, embroidery or DTF, whichever your art and quantity call for.
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6
It Ships
About 14 days from the day you approve the proof, printed and boxed.
Put Athletes and Parents on One Order
One set of artwork across practice shirts, parent shirts and hoodies keeps the count up and the per-piece price down.
One Coach Shirt Is Fine
There is no minimum order. Add the athlete who joined late, replace the hoodie left on the bus, or order a single coach shirt without paying for a full run.
The Whole Team Sees It First
You get a proof and approve it before anything is printed. Share it with the coach and the booster parents, so every opinion lands before the press runs.
A Price for the Parent Meeting
The design studio shows your price live as you change garments and quantity. You can walk into the parent meeting with a real per-piece figure, not a guess.
Rough Logos Welcome
A mascot sketch, a blurry file from an old order or a photo of a banner is enough to start. We clean up or redraw art so it prints well.
Timing Cheer Team Shirts Around the Season
Cheer runs on a calendar that is set long before the first practice. Each point on it calls for a different shirt, and each has a deadline that sneaks up on whoever volunteered to handle the order.
The roster is final and excitement is at its peak. This is the moment for the core practice shirt, ordered once sizes are in, so the team matches from the first full practice.
Camp shirts get worn hard for several days straight. Go light in color and fabric for hot gyms, keep the design to one or two ink colors, and order ahead of the travel date.
Travel days call for hoodies and matching parent shirts. Cold arenas and early mornings make a sweatshirt the most worn piece, so start that order well before the first event.
End of season shirts carry the year, the roster or a senior list. Small names need room to stay readable, so plan on a back print and get the spelling confirmed in writing.
The pattern that works for most programs is one undated team shirt that carries over year to year, with smaller dated runs around camp, competition season and banquet. Returning families skip what they already own, and new families can still get everything.
Choosing a Print Method for Cheer and Dance Team Shirts
Screen printing is the default for a team order. Each ink color needs its own screen, so a one or two color design across the whole roster is where the per-piece price gets friendliest. The ink bonds to the fabric and survives a season of practices and hot washes.
DTF, or direct-to-film, is a printed transfer pressed onto the shirt. It handles full-color art, gradients and photographs without a screen per color, and it makes sense for short runs. It is also how individual names usually get done, because every transfer can be different.
Embroidery belongs on hoodies, polos, hats and beanies. It reads as polished on a coach or a gym owner at the front desk, but thread is heavy. Across the chest of a thin practice tee it is the wrong choice, because the fabric puckers and pulls around the stitching.
Stretch matters more for dance team shirts and fitted cheer tops than for almost any other order. A big solid block of ink on a stretchy, fitted shirt feels stiff and can crack when it is pulled. Open designs, with the shirt color showing through the artwork, move better and feel lighter.
Tell us what the shirt is for and what fabric you have in mind. We will point you to the method that suits the art and the count, and you will see it on a proof before anything is printed.
Competition Date Already on the Calendar
Tell us the date and the count. If it is tight, ask, sometimes it can be done faster than the standard turnaround.
Artwork That Reads From Across the Gym
Cheer artwork likes to be busy. Script lettering, a mascot, stars, a year, a slogan and a list of names all want to fit on one shirt. On a small tee the print area shrinks with the garment, and anything delicate in the design shrinks right along with it.
Thin script is the usual casualty. Fine connecting strokes can fill in or break up on fabric, especially in a light ink on a dark shirt. Thicken the lettering, pair the script with a plain block word, and the team name stays readable from the far side of the mat.
Count your ink colors before you fall in love with a design. Team colors plus white plus an outline add up quickly in screen printing. Dropping to two colors and letting the shirt itself act as a third often looks cleaner and brings the per-piece price down.
One thing to know before planning the whole look. We do not make cheer uniforms or bows, and we do not do rhinestone work. What we make is everything worn around the uniform, which means practice and camp shirts, competition day and parent shirts, hoodies and hats.
If all you have is a phone photo of an old shirt or a sketch from a team parent, send it anyway. We clean up or redraw rough logos so they print well, and the proof shows you the result before you approve it.
Questions Coaches and Team Parents Ask
Is there a minimum order for custom cheer shirts?
No. You can order custom cheer shirts one piece at a time or by the whole program. The per-piece price drops as the quantity goes up, so it usually pays to collect athlete, coach and parent orders together and place them as one run. If someone joins after the order ships, you can add a single shirt later.
How long do custom cheer shirts take?
Standard turnaround is about 14 days from the day you approve the proof. Count backward from camp or your first competition and leave time for collecting sizes, since that step usually runs long. If your date is tight, ask. Sometimes custom cheer shirts can be done faster, and we will tell you honestly before you order.
Can we order athlete shirts and cheer mom shirts together?
Yes, and it is the smart way to do it. Cheer mom shirts, dad shirts and athlete practice shirts can share the same artwork across different garments and colors. Keeping one design across more pieces raises the count on the run, which is what brings the per-piece price down for every family.
Can each athlete have a name on the back?
Individual names are usually a job for DTF, because each transfer can be different without a new screen for every athlete. The team design on the front can still be screen printed. Send the roster with your quote request, spelled exactly as it should print, and we will tell you how it prices out.
What kind of shirt works best for practice?
A lightweight, soft tee in cotton or a cotton blend is what most athletes reach for, and it is what the studio on this page opens with. Blends dry faster and hold their shape through repeated washing. Whatever you choose, check that the color comes in every size on your roster before you commit to it.
Should we screen print or embroider?
Screen print the tees. It is the most durable choice for custom cheer shirts that get washed after every practice, and it is the friendliest on price for a full roster. Save embroidery for hoodies, polos, hats and beanies, where heavier fabric supports the thread. Full-color or photo artwork on a short run points to DTF.
Can you fix our logo if we only have a picture of it?
Yes. Send the best version you have, even a phone photo of an old shirt or a banner. We clean up or redraw rough logos so the edges are crisp and small details hold on fabric. You will see the cleaned up art on your proof and approve it before anything is printed.
How do we handle sizes for a whole team?
Collect them in writing before you start, one line per person, with the size each person wants to wear. Check the size run in the studio so you know your color exists in every size you need. Then enter the quantities and watch the price update. A few extras in the middle sizes cover late additions.
Where We Are
Olive Branch Apparel
706 East Stuart Street
Fort Collins, CO 80525
Get the Team Matching Before the First Call Time
Pick a garment, drop in your logo and see your price in the studio. You approve a proof before anything is printed, and a person answers the phone on weekdays, 9am to 5pm Mountain, if you would rather talk it through.