From long, heavy skirts used in field hockey, to shorts that were once worn on the softball field, athletic uniforms at Hockaday have changed throughout the decades.
Most sports at Hockaday typically redesign their uniforms every four years to refresh their looks. Over the years, these uniforms have embraced many different designs, styles and materials.
Varsity Softball Coach Natalie Kozlowski, who started at the school in 2020, created a new uniform for the team to wear this season.
“I’ve only ever seen one uniform, and it wasn’t my favorite,” Kozlowski said. “I’m excited to finally have a uniform that I got to design.”
Participating in designing the new team uniform, Kozlowski chose to include pinstripes, which is a very traditional look.
“Pinstripe looks really good on baseball and softball uniforms,” Kozlowski said. “I think pinstripe is really sharp looking, and I would like to keep it for at least one uniform in the future.”
Comfort is one of the biggest differences of softball uniforms today compared to those in the past.
“Uniforms used to be thick and heavy,” Kozlowski said. “They had big, embroidered letters and numbers. Now, everything is sublimated, so it’s much more comfortable and makes the uniform much lighter.”
Megan McClain Sapp ‘04 remembers her uniforms well while playing field hockey, basketball, softball and lacrosse during her time at Hockaday.
“The uniforms were big and oversized,” Sapp said. “They were made of a thick cotton and weren’t the most comfortable.”
Sapp remembers her uniforms changing throughout her time on varsity sports.
“We had long kilts and white polo shirts with a collar for field hockey,” Sapp said. “Our basketball uniforms were similar to those uniforms today, but we had mesh shorts for softball and a sleeveless V-neck top for lacrosse.”
Reflecting on the materials used today, Sapp believes that major improvements have been made to how uniforms are designed now.
“There’s probably a lot of dri-fit materials used today in the uniforms,” Sapp said. “The cut of the uniforms has also changed, and I’m sure what they use now for the uniforms is so much thinner and a better athletic material.”
The comfort and quality of jerseys is also a factor that Head Soccer Coach Rodney Skaife takes into account when deciding to get new uniforms.
“Some people like to play all four years in the same uniform, so I try and keep them at least four years,” Skaife said. “But really, if they’re in good condition and we like them, then I keep them longer.”
Skaife shared that, aside from players wanting to keep their same uniform all four years, the uniforms change when they have worn out or if the style is outdated. Skaife said his favorite uniform was the first one he got when he came to Hockaday in 1999. He also likes the team’s current uniforms.
“I think you remember them if you are successful in them,” Skaife said.
Aside from picking out designs, a lot goes into the process of finding uniform vendors. Skaife said that one of the biggest difficulties they have is finding places that make uniforms in Hockaday’s colors.
“Green is not that popular,” Skaife said. “And there’s so many shades of green that it’s hard to get the right one.”
Meredith Mihalopoulos ‘14 also remembers her athletics uniforms when she played field hockey, soccer and lacrosse.
“I remember my field hockey and lacrosse unforms being very similar,” Mihalopoulos said. “They were athletic skirts with tank top jerseys. Our soccer uniforms were pretty classic shorts and t-shirt jerseys.”
Once her uniforms got upgraded to a better material, Mihalopoulos felt that the uniforms she wore improved greatly and were much easier to play in.
“When we got new uniforms, they became lighter weight,” Mihalopoulos said. “The uniforms before were much heavier, so I remember being happy that we upgraded our uniforms.”
Uniforms provided a sense of school spirit, and thinking fondly of her time at Hockaday, Mihalopoulos remembers wearing Hockaday green on the field.
“We always had the classic green and white uniforms,” Mihalopoulos said. “We were always able to come together and wear our uniforms with pride and be one united force on the field.”
