There are situations where you need to create an authentic sense of community and civic pride in a group of people. One surprisingly affordable, easy, and effective way to achieve this is through custom scarves.
Why Are Soccer Scarves Special?
The traditional English football (aka soccer) scarf was first worn 100 years ago by fans, who soon discovered that a colorful knit scarf both keeps spectators warm at outdoor matches and provides a handy way to participate in the game and signal their enthusiasm by waving groups of scarves or displaying them like flags.
The impact and power of team scarves is something that can be appreciated at any major game and has been honored in a unique way at the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas. Ruffneck Scarves partnered with the NSHOF — located at Toyota Stadium outside Dallas — over the course of months to create a beautiful Soccer Scarf Wall that represents the diversity of soccer across the country. This one-of-a-kind collection displays team scarves from professional MLS squads, semi-pro clubs, colleges, high schools and more.
Soccer-style sports scarves have many advantages as accessories:
• Simple to purchase and fast to produce, with large custom orders able to be made in less than a month
• Appropriate for all ages of men, women and children and available in versions for different climates and seasons
• One size fits all — an advantage over hats, hoodies, shirts and jackets that need to be purchased in wide range of sizes — and also easy to match with other items like hats and gloves
• Endlessly customizable and an ideal canvas for any combination of colors, patterns, logos, names and slogans
• Easy to package for shipping and appealing and understandable to people around the world
• Bold, colorful and easy to see from far away, bringing a distinct visual indication of group membership in crowds and photos
• Popular and stylish, as the soccer scarf over the decades has become an iconic global fashion accessory and collectible piece of sports memorabilia
Bespoke scarves are a fun way to bring a jolt of color and feeling of belonging to groups of any size. Here are 10 areas where customized scarves are an ideal way to foster team spirit.
1. Businesses and Shops
Businesses, corporations, storefronts and retail shops all depend on building bonds between people and fostering a sense of membership. One way for businesses to use scarves is as team-building prizes and incentives. Scarves can create a shared sense of identity in a group that is learning to work together, for example, by featuring a new mission statement or the name of a recently assembled department. They can also be given as gifts to employees for hitting performance goals or as prizes for bringing in new customers.
For large corporations, there are even more options. Scarves can be a striking component to a centralized makeover and re-branding campaign, when it is important for leadership to build excitement and introduce new concepts to a diverse workforce spread across a range of locations. Corporations can also invest in customized scarves as part of their sponsorship of events like sporting championships, concerts and cultural festivals, raising awareness of their brand and linking themselves to the community.
For retail shops and other storefront businesses that depend on word-of-mouth and local knowledge to attract customers, an eye-catching scarf can communicate a call-to-action to potential shoppers. The business’s colors and logo can reinforce this message and make the location easier to find. An inventive designer can work in a map or useful landmarks so that the scarves lead patrons right to the door. Stores can incorporate scarves into limited-time promotions, for example offering a discount to every customer who comes in wearing one.
2. Cities and Communities
Towns and cities are always eager for new opportunities to promote interest in their communities. Scarves make wonderful items to gift or sell to tourists and travelers, businesses considering relocation, and new or potential residents. Team scarves celebrating a favorite local sports team can generate civic pride and remind team members that their town is behind them. Custom scarves can encourage local pride by incorporating a town motto, city or state flag, image of a landmark, or a historical commemoration.
Another idea is for cities to create their own scarves that honor an underappreciated school or community sports team, blending the team’s look with elements that highlight the city. Scarves can also raise awareness of places — such as a town library, museum, park or zoo — that would benefit from more visitors, using sports-inspired imagery to portray supporters as part of a winning team.
3. Civic and Creative Organizations
Organizations of all kinds — veteran’s groups, churches, neighborhood associations, maker spaces, crafting clubs and more — frequently want gifts and goodies for new members. Custom scarves make for an unusual addition to a membership welcome package. They can be designed to include details specific to a local group while also tying into a look and feel common to all the affiliates of a larger activity, movement, or organization.
Because custom scarves often evoke feelings connected with handmade treasures, they make thoughtful gifts for people who are sick and suffering. Religious groups and other charities working in hospitals, shelters, and other caregiving settings can create unique scarves for patients and people in need as part of bedside care baskets or recovery kits.
For creative people, designing a scarf can be enjoyable and part of the process of improving their personal art skills. Creative organizations with artistic members can turn designing their custom scarf into a community-building activity, asking people to submit their own ideas for the group’s official scarf design and giving special recognition — including a free scarf — to the winner.
4. Events
Both one-time special events and recurring events like festivals and holiday parades are ideal settings for customized scarves. Coordinated scarves create genuine togetherness at events, make the experience more memorable for those who attend and can be used to generate buzz in advance.
For example, people marching in a parade can wear matching scarves. They instantly create group cohesion, attract attention and can be incorporated into performance because of their long, flowing, and eye-catching form.
When a lot of scarves are worn in a crowd, they can be easily seen by attendees and in media coverage, generating a tangible feeling of enthusiasm. Scarves make good gifts for members of the media and other local influencers. For competitive tournaments and similar events, scarves can be an interesting alternative to medals or trophies for recognizing winners.
5. Families
Large families often need a fun and fashionable way to indicate who is part of their tribe. At reunions, weddings, and other big family gatherings that include unrelated friends and loved ones, family scarves can help people remember who is part of the family.
Family scarves can be customized to include a unique design that serves as a kind of family crest and can be created as a family project that is appropriate for involving children. On family vacations, especially when a lot of travel is involved, scarves that stand out from a distance can help family members find each other in airports and crowded tourist destinations.
6. Fans and Supporters
Since the soccer scarf was invented by sports fans, it’s no surprise that helping fans support their teams is a popular way of using customized scarves.
There are advantages to custom-designed scarves for devoted fans of teams that don’t have the funds to pay for team swag on their own, such as minor league and semi-professional clubs, local leagues, players of new sports, and schools without the budget for merchandise. Fans can show up for a game or match unexpectedly wearing coordinated scarves that show their allegiance, lifting the spirits of their team.
Though we usually associate fans with sports, there are fans and supporters of all kinds of groups, people and causes. Proud supporters with vibrant scarves are visibly at the heart of communities ranging from loving fans of artists, cartoon characters, foods, movies, musicians, performers and places to diehard backers of candidates, causes, movements, and political parties.
7. Fundraisers
Fundraising events, donation campaigns, raffles, and other giveaways often need interesting prizes that can be gifted in quantity to many people. Custom scarves designed to connect with the cause or organization needing support are perfect for these kinds of activities.
For example, a nonprofit organization could offer a distinct scarf as a prize for all supporters who donate $50 to an annual fundraising campaign and arrange to purchase as many as are needed depending on the campaign's success. Fashionable custom scarves are also a practical method for creating a unified look in a group that is publicly fundraising door to door or at an event, making it clear that the volunteers are affiliated with the organization when they approach strangers.
8. Restaurants, Breweries and Bars
After stadiums and sporting facilities, the most likely gathering place for fans is somewhere they can eat and drink together while watching their team. Bars, breweries, and restaurants can tap into this enthusiasm by customizing scarves to promote popular regional teams alongside their own branding.
They can also use scarves to show support for less formal games and teams — like a neighborhood bowling league or pub darts tournament — so that their location becomes associated with players, increasing repeat business. Promotions of distinctive brews, or other dishes and products in need of buzz, can include custom scarves to popularize, for example, a new craft beer’s color scheme and mascot.
9. Schools
Administrators, coaches, teachers and student group leaders can all use customized scarves for school-related projects. Situations well-suited for school scarves include:
• For teachers at events, so that they can be seen by students in a crowd
• For students on field trips, so that chaperones and teachers can keep track of classes
• For school athletic teams and their companion groups like bands and cheerleaders, as part of their uniforms
• For clubs and student organizations, to help them feel the same kind of team and school spirit that school athletes get from their uniforms
• For long-distance travel to school-related events, such as class performances or league championships, that require school groups to keep together and stand out in large travel hubs and even international destinations where groups from many other schools are also present
• For alumni, parents and other members of the extended school family, to encourage them to participate in school activities and recognize them for attending campus events
• For school staff and their families, to commemorate professional milestones or years of service
10. Sports Teams
Of course, custom soccer scarves are also essential for sports teams themselves. For athletes, scarves are both a practical accessory for controlling body temperature on the sidelines or while training as well as a fashionable garment for casual wear and team promotion.
Professional-quality scarves featuring a sports team’s logo and colors are an expected element of team championships and celebrations in every corner of the athletic world. This includes school teams of all ages, amateur league teams, semi-professional teams, military sports leagues, major league sports and national squads competing globally.
Festive team scarves also make excellent giveaways to fans at special games. Scarves can be designed to honor a famous player who is retiring or the anniversary of one of the team's greatest achievements, or retro scarves can be made as a callback to old team colors or a forgotten mascot as a treat for nostalgic fans.
A Quality Scarf Is a Sign of a Quality Team
There are certain requirements for successfully using a customized scarf as part of your efforts to build team spirit and foster a genuine feeling of being part of a special group of people. The scarf you choose needs to be one that is long-lasting and comfortable to wear, retains its color, and is made with the kind of high-quality craftsmanship you want the whole community to associate with your brand or identity.
Ruffneck Scarves is the officially licensed scarf supplier for renowned sports organizations like Major League Soccer, U.S. Soccer, the United Soccer League, the National Hockey League, and multiple NCAA member school sports programs. Custom scarves from Ruffneck are made using the same top-quality techniques and materials used to make the scarves worn by the professionals and stars we outfit.
Connect with a Ruffneck custom scarf specialist today to begin the process of designing, creating, and sharing stylish scarves with your community of choice. Our expert art team will help you design the perfect scarf at no extra cost, and once you have approved it our production team will craft your scarves and have them quickly delivered, with the average order only taking three to four weeks to complete.
