How to Build a Size Set for Team Kits Without Over-Ordering

Most team kit orders go wrong in the same place, and it is not the design. It is the size breakdown. A team kit size set is the quantity you commit to per size before production starts, and it decides how much of your budget turns into unsold stock sitting in a club cupboard.

Get the split right and nobody mentions it again. Get it wrong and half the squad is in the wrong fit while two sizes never leave the box. This guide gives you a method you can run on one sheet of paper: collect roster data, convert it into a curve, apply the corrections your sport demands, and order with a calculated buffer instead of a hopeful guess.

We build these sets every week for clubs, race events and apparel brands. The arithmetic does not change between an order of 30 kits and an order of 3,000.

What a Team Kit Size Set Really Means

Three documents get confused constantly, and the confusion is expensive. Keep them separate. This is also where most custom team kit sizing decisions are really made – on the curve, not on the chart.

• Size chart — the body measurements each size is built to fit. A specification, not a decision.
• Size curve — the percentage of the order that falls into each size.
• Size set — the actual unit quantity per size you sign off on the purchase order.

An approved size chart plus a guessed curve still produces a wrong order. The chart tells the factory what to sew. The curve tells it how many of each to sew. Only the second number controls your inventory risk.

Start From the Roster, Not the Size Chart

The fastest way to a defensible size set is to stop estimating and start counting. Ask for the actual data your club or client already holds.

• Chest or bust measurement per athlete, taken by one person with one tape on one day.
• Height and weight where measurements are impossible to collect.
• Each person’s preferred fit: race fit, standard, or relaxed.
• The sizes they wore last season, plus whether they complained about them.
• Names of anyone joining after the order closes — new signings, late registrations, event-day entries.

Two hundred rows of real data beat any published distribution. Where you have no data at all, use a reference curve and treat it as a starting hypothesis, not a fact.

The Four Numbers That Decide Your Split

1. Roster size, confirmed and not aspirational

Order for who is registered, not for who might sign. Optional attendees inflate every size equally, which is the most common source of dead stock in club orders.

2. Gender mix

A squad that is 70 percent women needs a different curve from a men’s team of the same headcount. Runs on unisex grading hide this until fitting day, when the smallest and largest athletes both have problems.

3. Fit preference

An athlete who wants a loose training top takes one size up from the same athlete in a race fit. If your roster skews toward relaxed fit, your curve shifts upward by roughly one size across the board.

4. Buffer for late additions

Set this as a rule before you see the numbers, so it does not become a negotiation with yourself. Five to ten percent of headcount, weighted toward the middle sizes, covers most late arrivals without creating orphans.

A Reference Size Set for Running and Training Kits

The table below is a working starting point for a mixed adult club squad of 40. Adjust it with your own roster data before you order — it is an example, not a standard.

Size	Share of roster	Quantity per 40 kits	What usually happens
XS	5%	2	Skipped in the draft, then requested by two people
S	15%	6	Under-ordered in men’s squads, over-ordered in women’s
M	30%	12	Usually the largest block; the first to run short
L	25%	10	Consistently under-supplied in masters events
XL	17%	7	Rises sharply in older age groups
2XL	8%	3	Confirm availability before promising it to anyone

Note what the curve does not do: it does not spread evenly. A team kit size set split evenly across six sizes looks fair in a meeting and produces shortages in the middle and surplus at the edges.

Approach	How the split is chosen	Typical outcome
Even split	Same quantity in every size	Middle sizes short, edge sizes left over
Last season’s order	Repeat the previous set	Correct only if the roster is identical
Roster-based curve	Counted measurements plus a buffer rule	Smallest residual stock, fewest exchanges

What Moves the Split: Sport, Gender Mix and Fit Preference

Sport changes the shape of the curve

Distance running squads cluster tightly in small and medium. Rugby, rowing and strength-based programmes push the curve upward and widen the tail at XL and 2XL.

Garment type matters too. Custom running singlets and custom running shorts are worn close to the body, so fit complaints surface immediately. Training jackets and outer layers are worn over other kit, so buyers routinely size up and the curve shifts with them.

Gender mix is not a rounding detail

Women’s and men’s blocks are cut differently at the shoulder, chest and waist. Ordering one unisex block for a mixed squad saves a line on the purchase order and costs you exchanges later. Where a squad is genuinely mixed, build two curves and add them, rather than averaging them into one.

Fit preference decides the base size

Ask every athlete one question: do you want this garment to touch your body or sit away from it? A race-fit answer and a relaxed answer differ by a full size in the same person. Collect the answer before the size chart is applied, not after the samples arrive.

The same logic applies across categories. Performance t-shirts for a corporate team usually run relaxed, compression tights run true to measurement, and custom golf polos follow a completely different curve because the wearer is not usually choosing a race fit.

Where Over-Ordering Comes From

Over-ordering is rarely a single bad decision, and it almost never comes from the size curve being wrong. It accumulates through five predictable habits.

• Rounding up every size. Each “just in case” addition is small; together they can add twenty percent to the order.
• Ordering for the whole season in one drop. Kit for people who have not registered yet is stock, not kit.
• Treating minimum order quantity as a target. The minimum is a floor, not a recommended quantity.
• Ignoring the size people actually wear. Athletes often request the size they wore in another brand, which grades differently.
• No buffer rule. Without a written allowance, extras get negotiated per person and always upward.

A single-unit minimum removes most of the pressure here. When one piece is a valid order, you do not need to inflate a line to reach a threshold — you can hold the curve and place a small follow-up order for genuine late additions. That is why we set our minimum at one piece rather than at a case quantity.

Handling Reorders and Late Additions

The size set does not end when the purchase order is confirmed. Plan for two events that always happen: a handful of late joins, and one size that runs out first.

Keep the original artwork, fabric specification and size grading on file, so a follow-up run matches the first. A reorder built from the same specification keeps colour and fit consistent; a reorder rebuilt from a photo does not.

Sampling runs five to seven working days from an approved specification, and bulk shipment follows fifteen days after sample sign-off. That timeline is short enough that a small top-up order is a practical response to a late addition, rather than a reason to over-buy at the start. If you are still choosing fabrics, our production gallery shows the range of kits and finishes we build.

Your Size Set Checklist Before You Approve the PO

1. Roster confirmed, with a named owner and a cut-off date.
2. Measurements collected by one person, using one method.
3. Fit preference recorded per athlete, not assumed.
4. Gender-specific blocks selected where the squad is mixed.
5. Team kit size set calculated from counted data, not copied from last season.
6. Buffer applied as a written rule: five to ten percent, weighted to middle sizes.
7. Sample approved on a real athlete in the middle of the curve, not the smallest.
8. Reorders, artwork and grading filed for the next run.

FAQ: Team Kit Size Sets

What is a team kit size set?

It is the quantity you order in each size — the size-by-size breakdown of a team order. It is separate from the size chart, which defines the body measurements each size is built for.

How many spare kits should I order?

Five to ten percent of headcount, concentrated in small, medium and large. Spares in the middle of the curve get used; spares at the edges usually do not.

Can I order one extra kit later?

Yes. Our minimum order is one piece, so a single late addition does not require you to inflate the original size set. Keep the original specification on file so the follow-up matches.

How long does sampling and production take?

Sampling takes five to seven working days from an approved specification. Bulk shipment follows fifteen days after you sign off the sample.

Should a mixed squad order unisex or separate men’s and women’s cuts?

Separate cuts where the squad is genuinely mixed. Unisex grading saves one line on the order and creates exchanges at both ends of the size range.

If you want a second opinion before you commit, send us your roster sheet and the sport you are kitting out. As a custom sportswear manufacturer working only in team and brand orders, we have spent more than ten years building kit in a workshop of over 3,000 m2, with more than 100 workers and over 1,000 original designs on file — enough pattern history to tell you where a curve usually breaks.

Running accessories such as caps, sleeves and socks are often the item buyers forget to size, so include them in the same sheet.

Ready to check your numbers? Send your size set and roster data through our contact form and we will review the curve before you place the order — no cost, and no obligation to buy.