An Cosantóir

www.military.ie THE DEFENCE FORCES MAGAZINE | 53 SUPPORTING THE DEFENCE FORCES WITH HIGH PERFORMANCE SPORTS CLOTHING REPORT AND PHOTOS BY SGT WAYNE FITZGERALD R ecently An Cosantóir met up with Declan Duffy of Pacelli Sports and Teamwear.ie, who is a long-term supplier of branded sports clothing to the Defence Forces, including different athletic clubs within the DF. In the late 80s Declan was selling high-end sports clothing to the Defence Forces' Canteen Board shops all around the country. At that time the canteen shops were a great place to meet socially and professionally. Declan added, "not only buying your sports clothing and runners etc but for hav- ing a cup of tea and meeting people and discussing different sports and clothing. And I did this in most bar- racks around the country." In 1995 Declan setup Pacelli Sports selling directly to the retail shops like Elverys and Lifestyle Sports. "Now we are selling to military sports clubs at the same price we would sell to re- tailers. Our website teamwear.ie sells clothing like half- and full-zip tops, all weather wear, tracksuits, training drill tops, hoodies, pants, shorts, base layers, socks, gloves and hats. Suit- able for any sports club or military unit, examples include soccer, gaelic, equestrian, gymnastics, volleyball and basketball and ideally physical train- ing instructors (PTIs)." Teamwear have always been a great supporter of the Defence Forc- es, and other organisations like the Special Olympics, who wore Stanno clothing to the World Games. A few years ago, when the Naval Service were heading to the Mediterranean as part of the humanitarian opera- tion, Teamwear donated 100 pairs of long football socks to wear under their wellington boots. Declan said, "I was very happy to provide these to the Naval Service who are doing a great job in the Med." Declan has now over 32 years' ex- perience in the sports clothing busi- ness, and I was interested to know was there much development in the types of material used. "Fabrics have changed from the use of natural fibres like cotton and wool to syn- thetic wicking fabric, designed to take the moisture away from your skin," said Declan. He explained that cloth- ing has changed quite significantly, "now we have 360 stretch fabric or 4 way stretch fabric with body map- ping technology." There are lots of different grades of synthetic fabric, but Declan explained in a way that to make it simplistic he will narrow it down to three main types. Grade 1, is a professional grade, which is high performance and holds no smells. Grade 2 is your high street retailer brand including replica football jerseys. And Grade 3 is your active sports category, which is a low-grade quality synthetic like budget retailers Lidl and Aldi. Declan explains the dif- ference could be, "the last 15 minutes of a game, is your clothing clogging your skin and not aerating you? Are you underperforming? Stanno only supply Grade 1 elite Climate-Tec grade clothing and has been voted Best Quality Sportswear Brand in Europe." Teamwear offer full service from design to supply, including embroi- dery or bespoke design to exact requirements delivered as quickly as 2-3 weeks. Whatever the sport con- tact Declan and his staff for all your team's clothing. Teamwear, 13 Fashion City, Bally- mount, Dublin 12. Ph: 01 429 5727 or email: info@teamwear.ie Pacelli Sports/Teamwear.ie's managing director Declan Duffy

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