Away colours facts for kids
Away colours are special uniforms or outfits that sports teams wear when they play games away from their home stadium or arena. These are also called "away kits" or "road kits." The main reason for having away colours is to make sure that the two teams playing against each other have very different looking uniforms. This helps players, referees, and fans easily tell which team is which during a game.
Contents
What Are Away Colours?
Away colours are a second set of uniforms that a sports team owns. Most teams have a "home kit" which they wear for games played at their own stadium. This home kit usually features the team's main colours. However, if the opposing team (the "away" team) has similar colours, it can cause confusion. To avoid this, the away team will switch to their away colours.
Why Do Teams Use Away Kits?
The primary purpose of away kits is to prevent colour clashes. Imagine two football teams both wearing red jerseys. It would be very hard to tell them apart on the field! To solve this, one team, usually the away team, changes into a different coloured uniform. This makes the game clearer for everyone watching and playing.
Sometimes, even the home team might wear their away kit if the visiting team's home kit clashes with the home team's usual colours. This is less common but can happen.
Different Sports, Different Kits
The idea of home and away colours is common in many team sports around the world.
Football (Soccer) Away Kits
In football (soccer), teams always have at least two kits: a home kit and an away kit. The away kit often uses colours that are very different from the home kit. For example, if a team's home kit is red and white, their away kit might be blue or black. This ensures there is always a clear contrast with the opponent.
Basketball Away Kits
In basketball, teams traditionally wear light-coloured jerseys (often white) at home. When they play away, they wear dark-coloured jerseys. This rule helps distinguish teams easily on the court.
Rugby Away Kits
Rugby teams also use away kits to avoid colour clashes. Like football, these kits often feature contrasting colours to their main home strip.
Cricket Away Kits
In cricket, especially in shorter formats like One Day Internationals (ODIs) and Twenty20 matches, teams wear coloured clothing. They also have away kits if their primary colours might clash with an opponent's.
Third Kits and Special Editions
Many professional sports teams also have a "third kit" or "alternative kit." This extra kit is used if both the home and away kits clash with an opponent's colours. Third kits might also be used for special occasions, like cup competitions or anniversary games. Sometimes, teams release special edition kits for charity events or to celebrate historical moments. These kits add variety and can be popular with fans.
Images for kids
-
Washington Football Team in white throwback jerseys at home versus the New York Giants
-
Alessandro Matri in Milan white away colours v Bayern Munich in 2016
-
Aymeric Laporte from Athletic Bilbao (left) and Lionel Messi from FC Barcelona playing by choice in change kits in their respective Basque and Catalan regional flag colours (2014) – their usual kits do not clash
-
England's away jersey worn in the 1966 World Cup Final
-
Liz Cambage in Australia's away colours
-
Ricky Ponting in Australia's away kit
-
Mike Tindall wearing England's black away kit at the 2011 Rugby World Cup
See also
In Spanish: Colores de visitante para niños
- Throwback uniform
- Road (sports)
- Galleries of historical soccer kits: English clubs & Scottish clubs
