Road
Cushion for hot bitumen and easy kilometres. Save plated racers for days you actually race—not for recovery jogs.
Choosing sports clothing
Heat, sweat, and the wrong shoe stack hurt more than a bad training plan. Start with where you actually train.
Match the fabric to the session
Cotton tees feel fine for ten minutes and then cling. For Brisbane humidity, look for lightweight synthetics or blends that dry on the walk home.
Gym sessions need stretch through hips and shoulders—squat depth shows up in seams before it shows on a label. Running tops can be looser; you want air moving once pace picks up on the river path.
Team training often means two sessions a week plus a match. One dark kit that hides grass stains beats three pale shirts that grey after a month of club washes.
Layers without overheating
Early morning winter runs still start cool and finish warm. A thin zip top you can tie around your waist beats a heavy hoodie you never take off.
Trail on Mt Coot-tha: long sleeves help against scrub and sun; road at noon: cap and light singlet. We keep a small rack of rain shells—not Gore-Tex expedition gear, just something for surprise storms between intervals.
Shoes: road, trail, court
Trail
Grip and toe protection for mud and roots. Do not wear road foam on slick downhill—it slides.
Court
Lateral support and gum rubber. Running shoes twist on netball cuts; court shoes feel stiff until they do not.
Bring the socks you train in. Half a size changes with thickness. If toes hit the front on downhills, say so—we will look at length and width, not just a conversion chart.
Bring your old pair
Wear on the heel or outer edge tells us how you load the ground. A photo of the sole on your phone is a backup, but the real shoe is better.
Tell us the goal: parkrun pace, Tuesday intervals, or all-day festival walking. Those need different stacks and we will say no to a shoe that fights your plan.
Team kit checklist
Decide on one or two colours before you ask for quotes. Number list with sizes—youth and adult mixed is normal. Names on the back need lead time; plain numbers are faster.
Goalkeeper bibs, shorts lengths, and women’s vs men’s cuts are not interchangeable. Send the list, not a screenshot of twenty colour swatches.
Ask about team orders