Every team is already proud of what it builds. The world should be able to see it.
BotFitters exists to take gear off the team's plate, so the time, money, and energy a team has go to the robot, and the team still shows up looking like the team it already is.
Started by a mentor.
I was one of the mentors who ran the business side of Ratchet Rockers 1706. At the time I was a user experience team lead for a large financial organization in St. Louis, making sure everyone who used our systems had the same experience. I brought that same thinking to the team.
I met Brian, the cofounder of Robotics Team Outfitters, the company behind BotFitters, after his daughter joined 1706. Brian, who owned his own print shop here in Wentzville, showed me that the team could get high quality gear in larger quantities than it ever had before. Back then 1706 had a standard button down, bowling style competition shirt, a team shirt, and a new shirt design every year. Brian and I continued that tradition and built the team a real brand, with brand guidelines behind it. People noticed, so we kept adding options, and gear sales became part of the team's annual budget.
Now the team offers many more options for its mentors, fans, sponsors, and families. Students and team members can get customized 1706 gear without the hassle of minimum orders or limits on what's available.
“How do we get your gear? Who do you go through?”
1706 hosted other teams at our facility for Coopertition Saturdays. Most of those teams had a logo and a single shirt each year, and no one with the time to do more. When we talked with those teams and their mentors, we heard the same questions over and over. That's where BotFitters started. We wanted to bring the benefits of a small print shop to local teams who had the pride but not an easy way to show it.
Today I run BotFitters myself. What started with local teams now reaches teams across the country, and I'm still working to bring it to as many teams as I can.
Dave Wright, founder. Wentzville, Missouri.
BotFitters makes it easy for robotics teams, and everyone behind them, to wear their pride.
Teams bring their logo, their ideas, and their story; we bring them to life, and we help design for the teams who need it. We put that same pride in the hands of the parents, mentors, volunteers, and sponsors who make the team possible, and we build our own BotFitters gear for the whole robotics community.
No team should spend its build season figuring out where to get shirts. Bring us your ideas. We do the heavy lifting.
Identity
The team looks like the team it already is.
Team
The people who make it happen.
Community
Sponsors, schools, volunteers, families, and events.
Big order or small, I handle it.
I fill orders from a single shirt to more than 1,000 shirts. Turnaround depends on the size of the order and the shop that produces the gear. I work with teams in Missouri, Indiana, Florida, and across the country.
No setup fees, recurring fees, or order minimums on any store. Design work and getting your logos ready for print are billed separately.
See how it works →