Time to Make the T-shirts

Nothing beats a really excellent T-shirt, especially when it has special meaning. One of my all-time favorites was the “Evolution of Man” tee, with an ape morphing into a soccer player on the front, that I picked up as a kid at some tournament or camp (or, more likely, the Wojcik’s basement, for those who remember that never-ending stash). I must have worn that shirt thousands of times, deep into my twenties, until it was literally falling apart at the seams.

To celebrate the six-month mark of the Second Half, I wanted to create a T-shirt that might achieve that level of specialness, at least for me. Full credit for the idea goes to my daughter, Emmy, who gave me a handmade Second Half shirt for Christmas. That will always be the original, and most beloved, but I’m not about to soil it on the field of play. 

Christmas morning, wearing the original Second Half T-shirt, given to me by my daughter. 

My first stop in creating a batch of Second Half tees to knock around in was Google, where a keyword search yielded thousands of T-shirt companies. Screw this, I thought, and tapped a quick email to my website guy, Scott Moe, to see if he knew anyone. Sure enough, a buddy of his, Kaleb Hunkele, runs a screen printing business out of Ithaca.  

I’m pretty particular about my T-shirts. They need to be tight but not too tight, soft but not so soft that they lose their shape after a few washes, and with just the right length and tension in the sleeve. After a bit of back and forth, Kaleb and I settled on the company Anvil, which supplies shirts for American Apparel, among other clothing retailers.

Anvil’s semi-fitted lightweight tee promised the best cut. As for color, I wanted to riff on the light blue filter on the homepage of the Second Half site. We decided Heather Royal Blue was the closest match, and Kaleb assured me that screen printing takes well to heather fabric. A week or so later, the shirts were delivered to my front door.

First time out in the new shirt, on a brisk February afternoon. The top should feel even better when the weather warms. 

It was a fun unboxing—not quite Christmas morning but close. The color is just as I imagined and the fabric, a cotton/poly blend, has a soft but durable hand, and it should hold its shape nicely over time. As for the fit, it’s comfortably snug, enough to help keep the lovehandles at bay (vanity is the surest form of motivation!). All in all, I think we nailed it.

So what’s next? The Second Half bumper stickers and water bottles? Maybe a little blue pill (hehe)? It’s true, a branded T-shirt is straight out of the Marketing 101 handbook, along with launching a website and printing up business cards. From the get go, though, I’ve insisted that this project is about nothing more entrepreneurial than unlocking my best self through the game of soccer. That said, I’ve been inspired by the community of likeminded Second Halfers I’ve come to know. If a T-shirt helps make the community a little wider, so be it. To reference that other favorite shirt from long ago, it’s an evolution. I’m here to roll with it.

Want in on The Second Half journey? Twenty bucks gets you the T-shirt and non-stop words of encouragement. Hit me up here or on Facebook and Instagram. Proceeds go toward the ordering of more shirts to keep the community growing.