sports "colours" at school - anyone else remember this?

[SenselessUbiquity]

I went to a convent grammar school in the 80s. Certain girls from fourth year upwards (?) received, eg, "hockey colours" which were awarded in assembly and worn from then on - coloured ribbons tucked into the waistband about the same length as the skirt.
Sounds mad. Does this still happen? Does anyone else remember it? Does anyone's child at school now have "colours"?

All my kids have had these, at 2 different independent schools, house, half and then full colours, with at one school full colours entitling you to wear a different blazer. Awarded for music, sport, scouting etc.
I had them at Uni too and was very proud to receive the equivalent of a blue at my red brick uni.
I disagree totally with @LurgyOnTheLoose i am not naturally slim, or sporty but worked very hard on my chosen sport to represent my country at university level. I would easily have got my chemistry or equivalent badge with much less time and effort, and that academic stuff was well recognised anyway, with good grades in public exams and at uni.

DS' independent school allowed boys to wear the tie if they had completed a challenge. DS wore his Devizes to Westminter canoe challenge tie exclusively after completing the race, but others also wore DoE ties, and 10 Tors ties. Colours were awarded only for representing the school in sports.

Comprehensive early 90s here.. never heard of this idea? We didn't even wear blazers although I think the school uniform has changed now.

Yes we had it. If you play first team sport or row at Cambridge or Oxford you are a Blue. You can wear a light or dark blue e.g. cricket v neck. If you were on second team you are a half blue

My comp had colours and half colours in the 2000s, I think it was a badge rather than a ribbon. You got it for representing the school in a sport. I vaguely remember being resentful for representing the school in a more unusual sport (outside coach rather than the club being run by a PE teacher) and not getting colours!

Yea we had them at my school but they were awarded for various achievements, not just sports

NI grammar schools do them. My school had colours (badges), half honours (different tie) and full honours (different blazer).

I was awarded a colour for hockey... when I was at the end of Upper Sixth 🙄

I went to a normal comprehensive school and we had "colours" in the form of a different tie (burgundy with the school badge embroidered on as opposed to a black gold and burgundy stripe). I was only ever aware of a couple of people getting them for sporting achievements, it was really rare.

Does at a local (state) comp round here.
They did them at the school went to in the 6th form, and I decided I wasn't going to sew it on. It looked rather ostentatious.

At my independent grammar school you could be awarded a black jumper with the sport you received it for embroidered on it. Pupils only wore a jumper if they had a black one. You could theoretically get them for lots of activities, but in practise, they were only given for sport.

My school didn’t do colours, but my DC’s schools both do. They can get colours for different sports, music, drama and any other academic subject. One school does half and full colours, giving special ties for full colours, the other gives a colours tie and metal badges.

@Pedallleur

Yes we had it. If you play first team sport or row at Cambridge or Oxford you are a Blue. You can wear a light or dark blue e.g. cricket v neck. If you were on second team you are a half blue

Half blue is for smaller sports, but still the first team only. (like tiddlywinks ) To get it, you generally have to play the Varsity (Oxford v Cambridge) match.

If you're on second team (for the Varsity match) you get "second team colours".

I think Blue/half blue entitles you to wear a specific jacket. Second team colours I think there's a club, but I never bothered joining.

I got them at university. It's more of a prep/private/grammar school think I think, my comprehensive did not have this.

Yes my girls' high school in 60s had them, I don't think they were called colours, we referred to them as sashes.

Yes, we did - coloured sashes worn through the waistband. Not that I ever got one, being one of the proudly lethargic.

Mixed comprehensive in the 90s, but a relatively formal one with itchy wool blazers - we had half and full colours for both sports and arts. Half was a ribbon sewn round each blazer cuff, plus a coloured tie. Full was the same, plus a matching ribbon going all the way round the edge of the blazer. It had to be sewn by hand and it took about a million years...

There were house, school which were fairly meh not that I had them nut plenty did. But county colours. Now they took getting. I remember one girl who got them twice, she went on to do something Olympic before a varied sporty career.

Used to be called braids at our school, and was special braiding added to blazers. Was swapped for a tie when blazers were ditched.

State school, mid to late 90s, we had sports colours. They were little woven rectangles naming the sport, that you had to sew to your blazer underneath the school badge.

My state comp did ties as colours in the 80s. It was a former secondary modern so not an ex grammar which had held on to its traditions.

00s grammer school and we had them in the form of rectangular badges. For some reason my sport (think judo) wa ommitted

I still have my Rugby 3rd XV colours. If you had been awarded your colours your name on the team sheet had your initial before your surname so A Smith as opposed to Smith A.

We had colours at my state comprehensive but only for sport and it may have been a metal badge. Not being sporty at all, I didn't even aspire to them!

My kids’ (independent) school has them - various sports, music, drama, debating etc. They are strips of ribbon sewn along the top of the blazer pocket. Kids who get a lot end up with blazer pockets from their shoulder to their waist.

My comprehensive school (late 60s/early 70s) gave these for sports - they were the bar type with the name of the sport. I acquired them for rounders, hockey and athletics - though you'd never think so to look at me now!