Work crews
High visibility, tough garments, sizes that skew large. See custom construction shirts.
Custom Team Shirts for Any Group
Sports teams, work crews, clubs, casts, staff, volunteers. The garment changes and the problem never does. You need everybody in the same thing by a date, and you need sizes out of people who will not reply.
Here is how to run it without it becoming your whole week.
48where the price really starts to drop
14 daysstandard turnaround from proof
1setup, even across several garment colours
10%spares worth ordering in the middle sizes
What Kind of Team Are You?
Everybody identicalOne design, one garment
The simplest and cheapest version. One setup, one garment, sizes collected from a roster. Most groups should do this.
Tiers within the groupOne design, different garments
Players in tees, coaches in polos, parents in hoodies. Same artwork so it is still one setup, but the hierarchy reads instantly.
Named and numberedOne design plus individual backs
Every shirt gets a name and number, priced per piece. Send a spreadsheet and it runs smoothly.
How a group order runs
Six steps, and the hard one is not ours
Collecting sizes takes longer than printing does. Everything after that is straightforward.
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1
Settle the artwork
One design that works across every garment you plan to use.
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2
Collect sizes
One message, one deadline, one default size for non-responders.
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3
Build it in the studio
Set the garments, the colours and the size run.
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4
Approve the proof
See exactly what is about to print.
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5
We print the run
Screen printed at team quantities, which is nearly always cheaper.
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6
It ships to one address
Sort it into piles once, not eleven times.
Collecting Sizes Without Losing Your Mind
This is the part that eats a week, and it is entirely a people problem rather than a printing one.
The trick is the default. Ask people to reply with their size by a date, and tell them what they are getting if they do not. Most people will ignore a question. Almost nobody ignores being told they are about to receive a large.
Order about ten percent spare in the middle sizes. Somebody will join, somebody will have given you the wrong size, and somebody will lose theirs before the season starts. Spares cost very little at team quantities and they solve all three.
| Group | Size spread to expect | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Adult sports team | Skew larger. Heavy on L and XL. | Get real sizes. Athletes are not a bell curve. |
| Work crew or trades | Heavy on L, XL and 2XL. | Order 2XL and 3XL properly. Running short is worse than a few spares. |
| Mixed staff group | Bell curve centred on large. | Roughly 10% S, 25% M, 30% L, 22% XL, 13% 2XL and up. |
| Youth team | Collect every size individually. | Youth sizing varies far too much to guess. No shortcuts here. |
| Volunteers or event crew | Bell curve, fewer smalls than you think. | You are guessing. Round toward large. |
One design across several garment colours normally prints from the same setup, so letting people choose black or heather grey costs you almost nothing. What multiplies the cost is multiple designs, not multiple colours or multiple garment types.
Names and Numbers
Individual names and numbers are their own print on every shirt, so they are priced per piece rather than spread across the run like the main design. That is the honest reason they add real cost.
Send the roster as a spreadsheet with one row per person carrying a name, a number and a size. Do not send it as a photo of a whiteboard or a list in the body of an email, because somebody has to retype it and that is where mistakes come from.
Check the spelling twice. We print what is on the roster, and the proof will show you exactly what we have. A misspelled name is the one mistake that is nobody's fault and everybody's problem.
What Groups Get Wrong
Ordering exactly headcount
Somebody always joins, somebody always loses theirs. Ten percent spare in the middle sizes costs very little and saves the reorder.
Two small orders instead of one
Twelve now and twelve in March costs meaningfully more than twenty-four today, because each order carries its own setup.
Guessing youth sizes
Adult sizing you can estimate. Youth sizing varies far too much between brands and ages. Collect every one.
Leaving the artwork until the sizes are in
These are independent. Settle the design while you are still chasing people, and you cut a week off the whole thing.
Build It for Your Group
Set the garment, the colours and the quantity and watch the per-shirt number settle. Team quantities almost always land in screen printing, which is where the price gets good.
If you need names and numbers or several garment types, build the base version here and then send us the roster.
Teams and Crews We Print For
Most of what we run is somebody trying to get a group into the same thing before a date. The sport changes and the job does not.
Races and events
Participants, volunteers and sponsors, often in three different garments.
Clubs and societies
Embroidered polos where the crest is doing the work.
Get Your Group Sorted
Build the base design yourself, or send us the roster and let us price the whole thing properly.
Team Order Questions
Can you do names and numbers on the back?
Yes. Individual names and numbers are priced per shirt on top of the base print because every one is a separate print. Send the roster as a spreadsheet with a name, number and size on each row and it goes smoothly.
How do I collect sizes without chasing people for a week?
Send one message with a deadline and a default. Something like reply with your size by Friday or you are getting a large. The default is what makes it work, because most people will not reply to a question but everybody replies to a threat of a large.
What if somebody joins after the order?
You can reorder, but a second small run is priced as its own order rather than continuing your first one. If you know you will be adding people, order a handful of spares in the middle sizes with the first run. It is far cheaper.
Do you offer discounts for schools or nonprofits?
Get in touch and tell us what you are doing. Volume pricing is automatic and already in the studio number. Anything beyond that is a conversation.
Can everybody pick their own garment colour?
Usually yes, as long as it is the same artwork. Printing one design across several garment colours normally runs from the same setup. Multiple designs is what multiplies the cost, not multiple colours.
What about coaches, staff and parents?
Print them on a different garment with the same artwork. Polos for coaches, hoodies for parents, tees for players. It all runs from the same setup so it costs very little extra to look deliberate.
Olive Branch Apparel
Custom screen printing, embroidery, DTF and DTG. We source blanks from suppliers across the country and ship nationwide.
Start an order
Build it yourself in the studio and check out when it looks right.
Open the design studioSort the Whole Team in One Order
One design, every size, one address. Start with the artwork while you chase the sizes.