As March has come to an end, Edina High School is gearing up for its spring season sports, which necessitates the preparation of merch, apparel, and uniforms for the Hornets.
Many tasks are needed to start a new sports season, focusing on training schedules, facilities, and game days. But before all this is possible, a sports team needs to have its gear. Steven Tschida, EHS’s head athletic trainer and equipment coordinator, is in charge of organizing the distribution of equipment to every sports team and athlete at the high school.
Without Tschida’s hard work behind the scenes, the dispersal of equipment would be pure madness. Organization is the most important part in Tschida’s job of managing the apparel given out to athletes.
“I have an inventory of every single team and all their uniforms and equipment,” Tschida said. “When we’re issuing preseason, we’re issuing uniforms to teams, so the documentation process is super important. Without that, we wouldn’t know what’s coming back, we wouldn’t know what kids still have out. So with that, the process of issuing and collecting equipment in a high school setting is really important.”
This is especially crucial as Edina sends their uniforms through a five-year cycle, meaning after the period, varsity will receive new uniforms, and the old ones will be passed through junior varsity and sophomore teams throughout the program.
Especially between seasons like the busy month of March, managing apparel and equipment can be extra hectic.
“[Sports] seasons cross over because Edina has a tendency to be in a lot of state tournaments, so our seasons are pretty extended compared to a lot of schools,” Tschida said. “You’re getting our spring sports already started, so it’s that whole system from collecting winter sports inventories and getting out and organizing the issue for spring sports.”
Uniforms are not the only thing EHS provides for its athletes. Many sports are also supplied with Edina green parkas and backpacks. But even outside of the apparel given through the school, all teams have the ability to supply sport-specific merch from different brands of their choosing. This could include a partnership Edina has with BSN Sports, which connects different teams to supply their merch through Nike. Other activities choose brands such as Alo or Aritzia.
Sport-specific merch can include game-day attire, hoodies, t-shirts, warm-ups, and even smaller accessories, helping foster a community for Edina sports.
“When school teams give out merch or [apparel], it really unifies the team and brings us all together. It conveys a good team spirit,” sophomore Alyson Meixelsperger said.
Merch is the heart of school spirit and an important part of unifying a team. It connects athletes, fans, and the community together all school year, but especially on game day.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on April 9, 2026
