Spitfire Weekend

I was lucky enough to be asked to coach a women's slo-pitch this weekend in the tournament to decide which teams go to nationals. I have to say that the ladies did well, battling hard in every game to earn victories when it mattered. All in all, the ladies came away with a Provinical Championship after winning a fantastic final game in which they rallied after being down a couple of times. They were led by a pair of dynamic women who could be called "spitfires", most notably my "weekend wife"/bench coach Jill C. and all-star cheerleader/injured reserve Heather D., and got major contributions on the field from Stacey L., Hailey R., Janie D., and weekend MVP Shelby R. Well done, ladies, on your championship!

From one set of spitfires, we move onto another set as the team from Windsor, Ontario decided to update their look for the upcoming 2013-14 season. As seen above, the Spitfires will look a little different than they have over the past five seasons as they have added a pile of color under the armpits and around the shoulder to "freshen up the look".

Comparatively, here's that "stale" look from the last five seasons.

The new dark uniforms will be significantly different in that the base color is now blue rather than red. While the Spitfires won a Memorial Cup while wearing red, apparently the change was necessary. The red underarm colors have been expanded greatly on the new blue uniform while the white has been reduced. There is a historical aspect to the color blue as Windsor used a blue road uniform in the past, so they are hitting their roots in bringing ack the blue. I'm not sure why there is a red swatch that goes from the neckline to the armpit, but I would guess that it's to bring the new underarm colors to some sort of completion point. Honestly, it doesn't work for me. It looks horrible, and really pulls your eyes from the logo which is what should pop on the uniform. Thumbs-down on this execution.

The white uniform will significantly increase the amount of blue under the arms and reduce the red almost altogether. This follows the new color scheme/identity that the team is adopting, but I actually like the red on the old white jersey. This new white uniform, though, finds itself with the same problem as the blue jersey: the added blue shoulder design and increased underarm color actually drown out the logo. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's the logo the most important part of the team's branding? Why is it competing with an unnecessary design element?

Overall, the apron-style uniforms are alive and well in Windsor this season and going forward. I just don't understand why the Spitfires felt it was necessary to update their look after a mere five seasons in their old uniforms in which they won a Memorial Cup. This seems like change for the sake of change, and I'm not really a fan of that. While I appreciate that fans will want to update their wardrobes with the current version of the uniform and merchandise, it makes little sense to update the old uniforms when the Spitfires had just begun building some good history in them.

While final assessments on this site mean little, hockey aprons have never gone over well. Thumbs-down, Windsor, for the aprons and the need to "freshen up the look" when it was entirely unnecessary.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!