While some sports teams at NHS get new uniforms every season or every couple seasons, the softball team has a different story. The team has recently purchased new uniforms, after six years of using the old ones. The uniforms will have a similar look to the previous ones, but will feature more gold and white colors rather than almost entirely black. 

So far, in order to fundraise for the new uniforms, the team has participated in various fundraisers such as one involving Hurt’s Donuts. The athletic department is required to get sports teams new uniforms every five years if they want them, so in theory the softball team’s new jerseys are overdue. According to assistant varsity coach Elizabeth Gunn, softball had not fundraised for their own uniforms since she started coaching in 2015, though the team got new uniforms from the school in 2016. 

“It really has not been that long since we got new uniforms, especially if we take into consideration the COVID season,” Gunn said. “All sports are on a schedule and it is just now our time in the cycle. Other teams fundraise to help purchase new equipment and uniforms; the volleyball team has been getting new uniforms every couple of years thanks to a bunch of fundraising on their own.”

One reason that the softball girls felt the need to get new uniforms was because of their presentation on the field. Junior Megan Rice thinks that newer uniforms will make the team look better to opposing teams and make them look more put together. Rice says that the original idea of fundraising for the uniforms came with the Hurt’s Donuts proposition from head varsity softball coach Danny Park. 

“Our coach, Danny Park, runs Hurt’s Donuts in Wichita,” Rice said. “We raised money through that by selling a dozen donuts for $25. I think that fundraising on our own kind of pushed the school to give us money for uniforms.”

Gunn and Rice both agree that disinterest in women’s sports was not the reason that the softball team had not gotten new uniforms for several years. According to Rice, the softball team gets overlooked sometimes but she is hoping that new uniforms will help with that. According to Gunn, there are several reasons that the uniforms were not bought until this year.

“I think the reason we have not gotten uniforms has been because there has been no additional fundraising, COVID, and it was not our turn in the cycle. I do not think this has anything to do with a disinterest in women’s sports,” Gunn said. “Honestly, [the old uniforms] have been taken care of relatively well. Some ‘popular’ numbers are definitely worn, though. There is always a desire to ‘stay on trend’ and to replace those that are ripped and stained.”