To Crest or Not to Crest...That is the Question

[NovaScotiaBlue]

Ladies and Gentlemen...
Our association is considering a 2 part uniform change beginning in the 2016 season. The most contentious part, the association wants to make black, the primary uniform colour with light blue as the alternate. The leadership has also proposed that the association crest be eliminated.
My question is, (and I know it has been asked before to some degree) Is Navy Blue pretty much done as a uniform colour? and
Are association or league crests still a required umpire uniform element in the leagues you work.      

 

[lawump]

We went to black two years ago.  We did away with the shirt crest about 6-8 years ago and replaced it with a simple embroidered hat (simple in that the hat is just our association's letters in white block lettering).  Our members loved doing away with the crest.  Having a shirt crest made that shirt useless for other associations (for example, they can't wear our crest in their NCAA games).  This increased their costs as they would have to buy additional shirts for their games outside of our association (such as NCAA or USSSA) as well as shirts for our association.  Plus, shirts are more expensive than hats.  Now, they can wear their shirts no matter what association has assigned them. 

We received a lot of positive feedback from both moves.

[noumpere]

Agree with law ump.  No one cares about the association crest -- use it on the hat or don't use it alt all.

[grayhawk]

We were required by our parent association about 3 years ago to wear a patch on our shirts for all regular season and playoff HS games.  I used to use some fabric tape so I could use those shirts in other games but last year just sacrificed a couple of shirts and had the patches sewn on.

I would prefer that we not have to do it, but it's no big deal.

Our default shirt color is black, but as long as PU and BU match, they can choose any conventional color they want.  Conventional generally means black, pro blue, cream, or navy.

[JaxRolo]

I don't wear Navy blue at all!

[kylehutson]

I worked with a guy this year who had a magnetic holder for his patches. I didn't get a chance to look too closely, but it looked like there were small, flat pieces of metal glued to the bottom of his patches, and a small circular magnet sewed inside a piece of fabric that went inside his shirt. It seemed like a really good strategy so you could move patches between shirts and have multiple patches for the same shirt. They seemed to hold well and he said they weren't uncomfortable.

I asked where he got it and he said it was a gift from his kids, so he didn't even know. 

[noumpere]

I've picked up severazl form different convetions -- it seems to be the new standard for name badges.

[Tksjewelry]

We have a lot of guys here who use the magnets. There are a few tailors around here that make the set out of our patches for $8. I don't do varsity so I'm not required to wear patches or insignia hat but insignia hat is preferred. I always wear my associations hat, especially when I'm lent out to another association or when we have borrowed members on the fields. We wear whatever shirts we want as long as we match (but I despise navy). Sent from my SM-G920P using Tapatalk

[Thunderheads]

YES, name badge magnets ....google it ........you can get them on Amazon

[Thunderheads]

http://www.amazon.com/Applied-Magnets-Name-Badge-Neodymium/dp/B001O20V8E

[KenBAZ]

Here in AZ we went to the MLB black two years ago and we are required to have our insignia on both hats and shirts. Not a big deal for me except we had a hard time getting them at first. Yes, Navy is dead at the HS level. Sent from my SM-N910T using Tapatalk

[MadMax]

Yes, Navy is dead at the HS level.

Not so the case here in Wisconsin, nor in Ohio and Maryland (and Virginia, if I remember right). Old habits die hard, and old umpires can't be bothered to buy a new shirt, let alone a different color.

#EndTheMonot-navy

[JaxRolo]

Patch Latch from Ump-Attire works well

[DVA7130]

Not so the case here in Wisconsin, nor in Ohio and Maryland (and Virginia, if I remember right). Old habits die hard, and old umpires can't be bothered to buy a new shirt, let alone a different color.

#EndTheMonot-navy

Nor GA

[HokieUmp]

Not so the case here in Wisconsin, nor in Ohio and Maryland (and Virginia, if I remember right). Old habits die hard, and old umpires can't be bothered to buy a new shirt, let alone a different color.

#EndTheMonot-navy

*sigh*