Custom Basketball Warm Up Shirts for Teams and Fans

Basketball warm up shirts are the shirts a team wears over its jerseys for the layup line and pulls off at the horn. Here that means a custom printed performance tee or a cotton tee, with free names and numbers, youth and adult sizes in one order, and no minimum. A performance tee stays light once it is soaked. A cotton adult tee is the lower-cost option. Part of Custom Team Shirts by Sport.

This page covers that warm up or shooting shirt first, then fan shirts, bench layers and coaches. These are printed shirts and sweatshirts, not reversible jerseys, mesh uniforms or zip warm up suits, so plan the game uniform separately.

What a basketball team usually orders

A typical winter order for one team looks like this:

• Players (often 10 to 15): one warm up shirt each, sometimes a hoodie for travel days.
• Coaches and the team manager (2 to 4): a polo or a tee in the same color as the players, plus a hoodie for cold gyms.
• Families: a fan shirt, often with their own player's number, ordered by whoever wants one.

The warm up shirt tells the crowd who you are before tip-off, keeps muscles warm through introductions, and survives being pulled off over a sweaty uniform, tossed on the bench and washed twice a week from November to February.

Picking the warm up shirt

Each of these has one price for every size, and you can mix them in one cart.

Performance Tee for a true shooting shirt

The Performance Tee is $30.99 in adult S-2XL, and the Youth Performance Tee is $27.99 in youth XS-XL. Each is polyester that wicks sweat and dries quickly, so it stays light through a full warm up instead of hanging off a player's shoulders by the end of shootaround. Both print by DTF, which gives bright color and crisp edges on a slick fabric. An extra surface on either one is $10.99, so a front design plus names and numbers on the back adds that once. Bulk pricing is automatic: the Performance Tee drops to $18.77 each at 12 or more. Adult and youth pieces count separately toward a break.

Performance Tee colors: Navy, Royal, Red, Black, White, Maroon, Purple, Forest Green, Kelly Green, Gold, Carolina Blue, Orange, Silver and Iron Gray. See performance shirts for more on the fabric.

Adult Tee for a low-cost warm up

The Adult Tee is $14.38 in S-2XL, cotton, printing on the front, back and both sleeves. Cotton gets heavier when soaked, which matters less for a ten-minute warm up. At 12 or more it drops to $10.90 each. Younger players take the Youth Tee at $19.99.

Long sleeve for cold gyms

For cold gyms, the Adult Long Sleeve at $22.99 covers the arms through warm ups and runs smaller than usual, so size up one. It comes in adult sizes only and prints front and back.

Names and numbers on warm up shirts

Names and numbers are free on every shirt. Choose one of four athletic lettering styles, an ink color, an optional outline, and a straight or arched name over the number. Paste the roster (up to 80 players per shirt color) and the sizes are counted from the list. Names print exactly as typed, so check spelling before you pay. The details are on free names and numbers and team roster shirts.

The cost to know about: a back print beside a printed front is one extra surface. On the Adult Tee that surface is $8.99; on the Performance Tee it is $10.99. Numbers alone with nothing on the front is one surface and costs nothing extra.

Warm up shirt design ideas

Nobody studies a warm up shirt standing still. It gets seen sideways through a layup line, half covered by a ball, under gym lights that flatten everything. Big, blocky front art survives that. Thin script and fine linework turn to fuzz. Some layouts that read from the far baseline:

• Team name arced across the chest with the season year underneath, number on the back.
• One short phrase in heavy block letters across the front, the team logo small on the back below the collar. Phrases teams use: "Defense Travels," "Box Out," "Earned in the Gym," "Next Play," "One More Pass."
• A big outlined number on the front with the player's name arched over a smaller number on the back.
• A tournament shirt: tournament name and year on the front, the roster in a column on the back.

For color, many teams warm up in their second school color so the shirts look different from the jerseys underneath, for example Gold over Navy or Black over Red. More layout advice is in group shirt design tips, and winter sports ideas has pictures of finished designs.

Fan and family shirts

Families in the bleachers are the second half of most orders:

• Matching fan tee: the team design on the Adult Tee, Youth Tee or Women's Tee ($19.99, semi-fitted, cap sleeves).
• Player's number on the back: "Number 23's Grandma" or just the number, with the team design on the front. That back is one extra surface.
• Cold bleachers: the Adult Crewneck at $34.99 or the Adult Hoodie at $37.99.

Rather not collect money? A free group storefront lets each family order and pay on their own, and the group earns 10% of storefront sales (school fundraiser shirts). Fan gear ideas has more designs.

Coaches, managers and the bench

Coaches usually take the Adult Polo at $25.63, printed (not stitched) on the left chest, in Navy, Red, Royal, Black, White or Athletic Heather. It runs trim through the shoulders, so size up if between. For the bus and the hallway, the Adult Hoodie at $37.99 and Youth Hoodie at $37.99 cover the half of a winter season that happens outside the gym. See custom polos and custom hoodies.

Sizing and how many to order

A warm up shirt has to come off over a jersey fast without taking the jersey with it. Most players take a size up from their everyday school shirt, and a compression top underneath pushes the same direction. Youth and adult sizes are not one continuous scale, so size by fit, not age. The youth XL vs adult small guide and the size guide have chest measurements.

To collect sizes, send families a names link: each player types the name to print and their size, nobody needs an account, and one button adds the answers to your order. See collect shirt sizes. Order one or two spares in common sizes for midseason additions, or simply reorder later: there is no minimum, so one shirt for a player who joins in January is a real order, and their name and number are free like everyone else's.

Timeline for the season and holiday tournaments

Production takes up to 10 business days after checkout, plus transit, and the cart shows the expected delivery dates before you pay. There is no rush printing, so count back from the first game, not the first practice: order about three weeks out to be safe. Faster shipping can be added at checkout for most addresses in the 48 contiguous states.

Holiday tournaments are three games in three days: one shirt worn, washed in a hotel sink, worn again. Put the tournament name and year on the front and the shirt outlives the bracket. It is what a kid still wears in April. One thing that catches teams: the school building is usually locked over the break, so ship to a home address, not the front office. One order can ship to up to 10 addresses (ship to multiple addresses), and the athletic office can get a quote or use a PO (quotes and purchase orders).

How to order with Remi

Open the designer and tell Remi, the chat designer, what you want in plain English ("navy performance warm up shirt, Eagles arced across the chest in gold") or upload your logo. Refine it by chatting, see it on the shirt, add the roster, and pay at checkout. Designing is free.

Questions coaches ask about basketball warm up shirts

What are basketball warm up shirts?

Basketball warm up shirts are the layer a team puts on over the jersey for shootaround and takes off at the horn. On this page that is a printed performance tee or cotton tee, not a mesh uniform, a reversible jersey or a zip warm up suit.

Should warm up shirts be performance or cotton?

Performance if the shirt is worn through shootaround and practice; it stays light when wet. Cotton if the budget is tight and the shirt comes off after ten minutes. Many teams mix: players in performance, families in cotton.

Do you make reversible jerseys or warm up suits?

No. We print tees, long sleeves, hoodies, crewnecks and polos. For game uniforms, see custom team jerseys with names and numbers for what a printed shirt can and cannot replace.

Can each player's shirt have a different name and number?

Yes, at no charge for the lettering. Paste the roster and every shirt prints with its own name and number. If the front is also printed, the back counts as one extra surface.

What size should players order?

Most size up one from their everyday shirt so it pulls off over a jersey easily. On the Adult Long Sleeve, size up as well, since it runs small.

A player joined after we ordered. Can we add one shirt?

Yes. There is no minimum, and the name and number are free.

What if a shirt arrives misprinted?

Send a photo within 30 days of delivery and it is reprinted or refunded. A size ordered wrong is not returnable, which is why collecting sizes in writing helps.

Outfitting more than one team? Start at custom team sports shirts or youth sports team shirts.

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