Does your high school kid's sport require they dress up (for class) on game days?

[Anonymous]

9:01 adding to my post. To OP- just make a little effort. Don’t feel he has to go all out in shirt and tie and dress shoes unless every other kid is doing that. At my school they would all be in sneakers with the dress clothes. A short sleeve pull over with no tie would show some effort and be fine.

[Anonymous]

Yes both my kids did this, one at public school and one at private. Team sports only, it wasn’t a thing for track for example. Both mixed up the outfits - jerseys, dress shirts, etc. Girls took it seriously with matching hair ribbons, etc. The boys liked it because it was a selective team (soccer) so gave them some status. Also generated fans at home games.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Here’s a shirt for under $9 on Amazon. We look there when we need quick dress clothes for my fast growing son. There’s no need to spend a lot since it won’t fit him in 3 months. https://www.amazon.com/Hanes-X-Temp-Performance-Black-Large/dp/B0132MFSUY/ref=mp_s_a_1_7?c=ts&keywords=Men%27s%2BPolo%2BShirts&qid=1691845004&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011&rnid=2470954011&rps=1&s=apparel&sr=1-7&ts_id=1045640&th=1&psc=1

In a high school teacher and this is the least of the issue. Worse are the sports that have themed days. My kids don’t have Hawaiian shirts or other very specific items and buying for those seem very wasteful. They don’t participate.

I don’t mind them always having one shirt with a collar, even if it’s a polo, and a pair of pants in their closets. They end up getting worn. There will be a dinner or some event they need to be in clothes other than athletic gear.

Op here
That shirt would not be acceptable for my kid's school sports. It has to be a dress shirt with a tie. I don't know if a short sleeve dress shirt would even be ok, I never saw any of the other players in anything but long sleeve.

[Anonymous]

My kid has to wear their warm-up sweats and jacket on game days (basketball)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes at our public HS. You can get inexpensive pants/shirt/tie at Target or Kohls. It's a respect thing

respect? what? why do schools require this? it is insanity to expect public school kids to buy dress clothes to wear to school. it is such a waste.

reminds me of the dumb black and white outfits required for 3rd grade violin.

I’ve heard of a lot of “insane” things and 3rd graders wearing simple black pants and white tops most certainly does NOT qualify! You, my friend, have a low bar in life. Put in a little effort.

[Anonymous]

Yes- still a thing for my high school kids. DS is fine with it.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:At our MCPS HS, my son’s soccer team did this. He opted out after the 1st game and nobody seemed to care. No teammates gave him a hard time. The coach doesn’t work at the school during the day so I doubt he would even know. I did notice a lot of football players doing it but again I don’t know what would happen if they simply said no.

Why opt out?

He simply dislikes dressing up as he finds the clothes uncomfortable. Since this wasn’t a funeral, formal event or job interview, it seemed silly to force the issue.

That’s sad that your high school student won’t dress up to support his team.

He supports his team by attending every practice, offering support and encouragement to his teammates and playing his best. His teammates don’t care if he dresses up. He wears team gear daily.

If his teammates are dressing up and he’s too immature to dress up, they definitely notice and care. Luckily they aren’t saying anything to him.

Too immature? What strange wording. The dressing up seems like some 1950s pep rally/jock tradition. Most other kids at the school probably don't care about the sports jocks or the cheerleaders.

I'd just be grateful if the kid wasn't wearing pajama pants to school like so many other kids I see.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Wait, your DS doesn't have a dress shirt? Don't you go to church or a funeral or a school dance? To answer your question, my DS dressed up on game days, but it was 10 years ago.

This will be hard for you to imagine, but plenty of families do not go to church. And do your kids really go to so many funerals that their funeral clothes still fit them?!

At this age teenagers are going to plenty of events that would require a dress shirt and dress shoes. Things like job interviews, school events, dances, funerals (yes, funerals) etc. where it would be expected to have some level of dress requirements higher than a t-shirt and shorts and crocs and that it would require at least putting on a dress shirt/shoes. It wasn't even a jacket. Give me a break. There is nothing wrong with asking a kid that wants the privilege of playing a sport to dress up (and we are really talking about high end business casual with a tie) to demonstrate they want to play that sport. It sets a tone.

OP here
This is about the first game of the fall season freshman year. These boys are 13 or young 14 years old. "Job interviews" are walking to over to the neighbor's house to discuss mowing their lawn or walking their dog--no tie needed. Middle school dances do not require ties at his middle school. Not everyone has tons of people close to them die by the age of 14.
Like I said, this was a couple years ago, so in my son's case he and his classmates were just coming out of that virtual school for Covid year--no one was going anywhere fancy. So even if he had those clothes for events prior to covid, a year and a half later they wouldn't still fit him because most boys grow a lot in the middle school years.

Of course he had stuff that was nicer than a t shirt and shorts--he had things like polo shirts and khakis...but that was not acceptable. It had to be a dress shirt, tie, and dress shoes.

We aren't church people OP, and we were in the same boat - our boys didn't have suits or business attire in 9th grade. We weren't going to weddings or funerals on a regular basis, and the kids were growing so it wasn't worth investing in this stuff, especially formal shoes. The sports team demands sound over the top - who is enforcing this?

I was surprised when I saw sports professionals shown arriving at stadiums in fancy suits, diamond jewelry etc. Maybe that stems from this school tradition. When I was preparing for my sports events, I wore a tracksuit.

[Anonymous]

Kid played ice hockey in MCPS. Wore game jerseys on top of shirt and tie on game days. First home game, freshmen wear some of their equipment on top of their clothes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I remember this from high school. The football players were in sport coats and ties on Fridays.

Same at my high school. I had completely forgotten about that.

[Anonymous]

Yes, this is a thing for our boys basketball team, at least. Khakis and a polo shirt are fine though.

[Anonymous]

Yes. I am female but was a manager/statistician for the football team. I had to wear a skirt (below the knee) to school on on game days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:At our MCPS HS, my son’s soccer team did this. He opted out after the 1st game and nobody seemed to care. No teammates gave him a hard time. The coach doesn’t work at the school during the day so I doubt he would even know. I did notice a lot of football players doing it but again I don’t know what would happen if they simply said no.

Why opt out?

He simply dislikes dressing up as he finds the clothes uncomfortable. Since this wasn’t a funeral, formal event or job interview, it seemed silly to force the issue.

That’s sad that your high school student won’t dress up to support his team.

A real tragedy. Who are they kidding. They are wearing them to show off. Set them apart from the everyone else. Our high school does not do it and my high school way back 1990 didn’t do it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes both my kids did this, one at public school and one at private. Team sports only, it wasn’t a thing for track for example. Both mixed up the outfits - jerseys, dress shirts, etc. Girls took it seriously with matching hair ribbons, etc. The boys liked it because it was a selective team (soccer) so gave them some status. Also generated fans at home games.

Okay, now you're just drinking the Kool Aid. In my day (which I'm sure still holds true), it led to the opposite.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s a nice tradition. They need to learn about dressing up at some point. In college, my kid wears nice clothes on presentation days and for interviews. At our HS it was encouraged but not required. There was variety in the extent of dressing up as kids figured out their dressed up style. Honestly, without the team encouragement, my kid would have only worn sweats and super casual clothes.