Spirit Wear & Schools
Get Your School Spirit Wear Ready Before the First Bell Rings
Scrambling for school spirit wear in September is stressful, and avoidable. Here's how NEPA booster clubs and PTAs can plan ahead, collect sizes efficiently, and have shirts ready before the first day of school.
If you’re a PTA chair or booster club coordinator in NEPA, you already know how September feels: chaotic. Between school supply lists, fall sports registrations, and volunteer sign-up sheets, ordering spirit wear somehow ends up at the bottom of the pile, until a parent asks when the shirts are coming and suddenly it’s urgent.
The good news? A little summer planning goes a long way, and the groups that get it right usually start before school is back in session.
Start Earlier Than You Think
Most custom apparel orders take two to three weeks from approved artwork to delivery. Add in back-and-forth on the design, collecting sizes, and getting sign-off from the principal or athletic director, and you’re easily looking at a month-long process. If you want spirit wear Northeastern Pennsylvania families will actually wear on day one, late July or early August is the right time to start, not the week before school begins.
Keep Your Design Simple (and Reusable)
One of the biggest mistakes booster clubs make is creating a design so specific to the current year that it can’t be used again. If your design is evergreen (just the school name, mascot, and a clean layout), you can reorder the same artwork next year without paying for a redesign. That simplicity saves money and speeds up the approval process every time.
Figure Out Quantities Before You Order
The trickiest part of any bulk order custom apparel run is figuring out how many of each size you need. A simple Google Form sent to your school community (name, shirt size, and payment method) solves this quickly. It gives you an accurate count and means you won’t end up with 40 extra XL shirts and no smalls.
Some schools and booster clubs take it a step further and set up a custom online team store. Families order and pay directly during a two- or three-week window, the printer handles fulfillment, and you never have to collect money or guess at quantities. If your group runs multiple apparel orders each year, an online store is worth exploring.
What to Ask When You Contact a Printer
Before you commit to any vendor, get answers to these questions: What’s your minimum order quantity? What’s your standard turnaround time in August? Do you offer design help, or do I need to supply print-ready artwork? What decoration methods do you offer? For most booster clubs doing spirit wear in Northeastern Pennsylvania, screen printing is the most cost-effective option for larger runs, while embroidery is better suited to coaches’ polos or staff jackets.
Don’t Wait on This One
August fills up fast for local printers. Getting your design locked in and your size collection done in July means your spirit wear is ready when school starts, not three weeks after. If your school or booster club is planning a spirit wear order this fall, 570 Creative is here to help. Visit 570creative.com to request a free quote and get a jump on the season before summer slips away.