Hive Mentality...

White Roding Vets have played in a multitude of colours in recent years... Black & White, Green, Claret & Blue, Red & Black and most recently Gold & Black.

In a rather testy encounter last season, Ian Carter was on the receiving end of an agricultural challenge from an opposing player and was disparagingly likened to a Bumble Bee as he venting his displeasure. The nickname Bumble has stuck ever since.

Bumble Bees are truly fascinating creatures - industrious, collegiate and defying the laws of physics in their movement (there is much we have in common!) When the time came to change kits once again, and courtesy of our new sponsor RVTV Security, we wanted to honour the strengths of the buzzy beings whilst moving to a colour way that would bring us more success.

Hummel is the German word for Bumble Bee. They are also the Danish manufacturers of our new kit. With a rich history of sporting success from Denmark to Real Madrid and the literal A (Afghanistan) to Z (Zanzibar) of lesser known nations they have supplied, the Hummel kit we have chosen could come with no stronger pedigree.

Using the ethos of marginal gains, the Gaffer scientifically researched the attributes of what colours and designs would serve us best. It has long been known that teams with a significant amount of red on their shirts have won more games, points and trophies, but did you know that kits containing white offers the greatest visibility between team mates passing to each other? Or that vertical stripes are not just slimming to unflattering figures, but also more difficult for the opposition to track when they are defending? All of this is backed up by academic studies in the UK, Europe & the Americas.

So in the end the decision was simple... Red & White stripes it is!

Will it make a difference apart from a pair of shorts that finally fit Steve Mills? Only time will tell, but in the meantime, we will have a matching kit for the first time in several seasons.