Stacy, this may be too late for you...
On a football film i did years ago i had a lot of luck placing the mic and transmitter on the shoulder pads between the pad that goes against the player and the hard shell. I put the transmitter on the back and ran the mic cable along the inside pad. I never had any complaints or damages to equipment or talent. the great part was being able to have the the whole thing wired before the talent put it on.