By Minh Ngoc Le
Fountain Valley High School (FVHS)’s branding rule, introduced at the end of the 2023-2024 school year, is a set of guidelines that requires all athletic teams to feature specific shades of red, white, blue and gold in the uniforms that they produce. In addition to uniform brand colors, the rule also requires the incorporation of official FVHS logos, whether it be the traditional Baron or the FV initials on the clothing items produced.
Though the efforts to unite all sports teams can foster unity, the extent to which it goes can be a little … excessive.
Restricting sports teams to only producing on-brand merch stifles creativity and limits students’ ability to express themselves. By enforcing strict regulations, aspiring graphic designers and digital artists are stripped of a valuable platform to showcase their abilities, forced instead to conform to rigid branding guidelines. Rather than being walking billboards for FVHS, students should have the freedom to proudly wear something that actually represents the spirit of their sport.
Moreover, there is no harm in allowing sports to still have their own unique designs in addition to those that are on-brand. Clothing is more than just a piece of fabric—it is a powerful symbol of belonging. If it represents your identity, why not make it fun?
When a team steps onto campus in bold, customized pre-game outfits, it doesn’t just look good; it builds hype, fuels school spirit and strengthens team pride. These pre-game outfits can be another way to raise school spirit within the student body while still keeping the unified Baron spirit through official uniforms on the courts.
Besides, if the ultimate goal is to increase school unity, shouldn’t the branding rule be enforced across all programs that represent the school? This includes extracurricular programs such as choir, orchestra or theater, all of which represent FVHS in public performances and competitions.
Many of these groups have unique branding elements, yet they are not held to the same uniformity standards. If consistency is the priority, all groups should be held to the same standards. And if exceptions exist, then why not allow the same creative freedom for athletic teams?
At the end of the day, students should be able to represent their teams in a way that feels authentic to them, not just in a way that fits a branding manual. FVHS should allow teams to incorporate unique designs as long as they stay within FV’s colors and greater clarification should be provided to ensure that student creativity is not unnecessarily restricted. School spirit is about pride and passion, not just standardized color codes and logos.
