Shawn Jansen: Players want to look sharp before they hit hard

The suspense this offseason was killing Buhach Colony senior Hunter Stefani. The third-year varsity lineman and his teammates couldn’t wait to get their new jerseys.

Each player had to raise $200 by selling discount cards to help come up with the $16,000 for the new football jerseys.

“It really was exciting,” Stefani said. “We spent our whole offseason wondering what kind of jerseys we were going to get. There were rumors going around they we were getting gray jerseys. When we saw the final result, it was better than what we thought.”

The gold Nike Mach Speed jerseys are the same type worn by Oregon and Ohio State in last season’s national championship football game. The Thunder will also have a chrome look to their helmets this season.

“To me, it’s just a uniform. But those guys take a lot of pride in what it looks like and how they look on game day,” Buhach Colony coach Kevin Navarra said. “Kids were motivated and fund-raised for new helmets.

“We made a switch about five or six years ago to Nike uniforms. That swoosh has been a motivation. It’s made a big difference. You’d love to say as a coach that it shouldn’t, but it is what it is. I doubt it’s the difference between winning or losing games, but the kids get excited.”

Football uniforms have come a long way since wool sweater jerseys were worn with leather helmets. With Oregon leading the way in college, uniforms have changed drastically in the past decade.

“I pulled out my old jersey recently and it was the heavy old Russell jersey,” said Merced coach Rob Scheidt, who played at Dos Palos. “That was top of the line back then. Ten to 15 years before that was the wool jerseys. The jerseys have come a long way in the way they look and how they perform.

“Nike does a great job improving their jerseys. They’re lighter, stronger and don’t rip and tear. They also have jerseys that have a lot of ventilation. In climate like ours, where it’s likely going to be 90 to 100 degrees during the first two months of the season, it pays dividends because it helps keep your body cool.”

The kids care more about how they look. They have the option to add accessories on Friday nights. The Sac-Joaquin Section doesn’t allow players to wear rubber bracelets or bands, however, kids can wear compression sleeves, colored cleats, protective visors or gloves to add to their look.

Stefani, who considers himself a skill player at heart with the diva mentality to match, attracts plenty of attention with gold cleats.

“That’s one of the first things people talk about when they see me wearing them,” he said. “Some think it’s funny, some think they’re cool, and then there are some that think, ‘What are you doing, Hunter?’ I get different reactions.”

The players also love the combinations they can put together with different pants and jerseys. With four pairs of pants and three different jerseys, Merced has 12 uniform combinations from which to choose each week. Many schools have six to nine different combinations.

“Our uniforms are two years old, but I still think we have better uniforms than anybody we’ve played or anybody else in the area,” said Merced senior A.J. Stewart. “Every team we play comments on our jerseys.”

Most teams purchase new uniforms every two or three years. The old uniforms are handed down to the lower levels.

Atwater, Los Banos and Golden Valley spent anywhere from $15,000 to $18,000 on sets of home and away jerseys in the past few years. According to Cougars coach Dennis Stubbs, Golden Valley will add a new gray jersey to its rotation this season.

“Honestly, it gets irritating because it costs a lot of money,” said Atwater coach Bob Valladao. “The money is better spent on pads and helmets because those last longer. If you spend money on a blocking sled, it lasts 20 years.”

Problem is, if coaches don’t continue to purchase top-of-the-line uniforms, there’s the fear they may lose kids to schools that do.

“I remember Coach Stubbs saying if we don’t step up and get the nice uniforms, we’re going to lose kids to Merced and El Cap,” said Los Banos’ Dustin Caropreso, whose Tigers changed to yellow helmets this year. “You have to keep up with everyone else. You have to keep up with the Joneses.”

This story was originally published August 27, 2015 at 11:21 PM with the headline "Shawn Jansen: Players want to look sharp before they hit hard."