Soccer “pinnies” are brightly colored scrimmage vests sometimes worn over or in place of a player’s jersey. 

Some people assume that this term refers to how the vests are attached, i.e., that they’re “pinned” to the player’s jersey, similar to the numbers worn by horse racing jockeys. While this may have been the case at times in the past for footballers, the term “pinny” is actually short for pinafore–an apron-like dress fastened with a pinned front bib and meant to be worn over a blouse. 

This simple garment has become a vital piece of sporting equipment not only for soccer but also for most other team sports for its versatility, utility, and ease of care or replacement.

No More Shirts and Skins

One of the most obvious uses for pinnies is to determine teams for scrimmages where every player may be otherwise wearing the same jersey or friendly pick-up games where players may have on various uniform pieces or simple athletic wear. 

Anyone old enough to remember their youth coach for boys’ sports calling for “shirts and skins” can likely remember some pretty gnarly turf burns – or painful sunburns. Pinnies make splitting into teams as easy as grabbing your vest from the soccer bag and hitting the field. 

You know at a quick glance who to pass the ball to and who to defend when they’re on the move.

Simpler Sideline Management

Soccer is a fast-moving sport with players working the entire width and length of the field every play, including along the edges of the sideline where players who aren’t currently active may be resting, warming up, or watching the game. 

Pinnes worn on the sideline help players, coaches, and refs easily identify who is an active player and who isn’t when the action gets close to the sideline or a player has to go out to send the ball back into play. 

Since soccer also has rules that limit substitutions–unlike some other sports–these pinnies also help everyone keep track of allowed substitutions for a cleaner game that’s fair for both teams.

Traffic Management

When you’re a busy coach trying to help players hone their skills, you need an efficient way to identify everyone on the team, give them the instruction they need for development, and keep everyone on task. Numbered scrimmage vests help you quickly assign players to teams, pair up players for skills practice, or just give a single player the extra attention they need during agility drills with the orange practice cones. 

While a name may escape you or sound similar to another player’s name, leading to confusion, number ten knows who they are and will be ready for focused instructions.

Rugged and Replaceable

For all its versatility, a good pinny is ready to take one for the team. Pinnies are designed to stand up to the roughest scrimmages and hard use on the pitch, coming clean to play again another day. 

If the pinny gets really torn up, it’s often far cheaper and easier to replace than the jersey it was covering. That’s why so many players, parents, and teams choose to have extra pinnies on hand to ensure they’re always prepared for the next league game, scrimmage, or friendly.

Make sure you’re ready to train hard and play hard. Find pitch-ready soccer pinnies at competitive prices from SoccerPro today.