AlainaKroll

Within Marian’s locker rooms, whispers of change are afoot. You heard it here: the rumors are true. Here’s what you need to know about Marian’s new Nike uniforms.

This summer, Marian’s athletic department switched to a new company, and Athletic Director Rochelle Rohlfs signed two contracts finalizing plans for all 11 NSAA-sanctioned sports to switch to all-Nike uniforms within the next four years.

So, why the sudden change? Marian has been using Under Armour as their uniform supplier for the past 10 years. However, Rohlfs revealed that although Under Armour has high quality products, they are having supply and demand issues. On top of that, other brands like Nike and Adidas improved their offers for schools. When it came to making the decision, Rohlfs said, “It was basically whichever company would be able to meet our needs as a school.”

All of Marian’s 11 NSAA-sanctioned sports (volleyball, cross country, softball, golf, basketball, bowling, soccer, track and field, tennis, swimming and diving, and wrestling) are on a spreadsheet that splits them up over the course of four years. That way, around three sports get new uniforms each year. These expenses come straight from students’ tuition dollars, providing each sport’s varsity team with the standard of two sets of uniforms—except for the rare case when parents donate an extra set of uniforms (softball, for example). This method makes the process of renewing uniforms much easier.

As for the uniform designs, Rohlfs says that they’re all up to the athletic department. Athletic Trainer Melissa Brusnahan, Assistant Athletic Director Jake Moore, Rohlfs herself, and the head coach of the sport will be designing them, but sometimes coaches ask their upperclassmen for input. Rohlfs said, “If anything, it might be some of the student athletes that would help choose.”

Softball is set to replace their current white uniforms with new Nike uniforms for the 2027 fall season. Millie Sutko, a freshman on the varsity team, will be a junior during the switch. She is excited to receive new uniforms in the future because she believes that when you look good, you play good. Sutko said, “New Nike uniforms will make us look sharp and will represent Marian as a nicer school.” 

According to Sutko, the jerseys she received for this season “smelled bad” and the pants “had some rips.” Softball is—quite literally—a dirty sport, so new uniforms are always a must. The parents of the 2024 varsity softball team even paid $120 each for the girls to have new blue uniforms this year because they felt that two uniforms were not enough for the wear and tear that comes with the  sport. Safe to say that the softball team is more than ready to have some spiffy Nike uniforms.