Creating and
exchanging custom trading pins is a common practice among sports teams
nowadays. Most people think of baseball pins that have a certain team’s logo on
them and are traded back and forth between teams when the topic of trading pins
is brought up. However, this practice is not exclusive to baseball teams. In
fact, it has become very popular for girls softball teams to order their own
trading pins and exchange them with opposing players when they attend
tournaments or showcases for the sport. The pins often incorporate the names of
the players on the team and customize it in a way that distinguishes their team from others.
The process of developing and acquiring the pins that are to be traded
eventually can be done in a number of ways. First of all, there are various
websites and companies that team managers or coaches can look into locally
through research or mutual resources. As long as the team has a plan in place
to fundraise enough money to actually create and purchase the trading pins, they should not be too expensive. Since softball teams
generally have anywhere from 9 to 13 players who would need pins to trade and
each individual pin (depending on where they are made) should not cost too
much, it is certainly something worth participating in so that the players can
have memories and keepsakes of both their own and other teams. Aside from a
colorful team logo with the player’s names, the team can come together and
decide what else they want on their pins to make it unique, such as color or
depictions of softballs or a bat/glove. Each player would probably get a
handful of some softball
trading pins so that they have enough to keep one of their own and trade
them for a variety of other pins. All in all, if done in a way that is most
affordable and practical for a team, actually designing and receiving the pins
is just the first step and should be simple enough.
After the pins are in the hands of the players, the trading process is what is
the most fun. This is usually done before or after teams play each other in a
game/scrimmage at a tournament. Once the competitive mindset of the softball
players can be released, this is a time where athletes who may not have bonded
off the field before or even officially met can introduce themselves and share
their team’s pin with each other. After all, though they have to be against
each other when playing, they still share a love of a sport that brings them
together and there is a common understanding of how hard each player works to
be successful. Therefore, trading back and forth will allow every athlete to
let loose and celebrate the sport as a whole by going around and meeting new
players by exchanging a small pin that represents teams from all over the state
or even country.