Nice move by the Flyers, whose players arrived at the arena for last night’s home game wearing jerseys from teams participating in this year’s Flyers Cup, an annual high school hockey tournament for schools from Eastern Pennsylvania, Southern New Jersey, and Delaware.
Here are some additional pics (note that one school appears to be poaching the Minnesota Vikings’ logo!):
How great would it have been if the Flyers had also worn these jerseys during their pregame skate? But even without that, this is a really great way for a team to build ties with its local community. Seems like something that would be good for any pro team in any sport to do, even if there’s no local tournament taking place.
Blues did this over the weekend: link
I’m having trouble finding a photo and it’s been a few years since I’ve been to a game, but the Penguins’ arena had a whole hallway/concourse dedicated to the local high school hockey teams, with lots of jerseys on display. Maybe someone else has a photo or two on-hand? I presume it’s not something the arena would’ve gotten rid of in recent years…
Happen to go to a game there back in 2022. The jerseys are all still there as of that year. I thought it was very cool and loved seeing all the different designs.
Still there AND they update it as teams update their jerseys so nothing gets outdated. It’s a permanent fixture on the lower bowl concourse.
For the longest time, Xcel Energy Center (Minnesota Wild) had all the Minnesota high school hockey jerseys hanging up in the concourse of the arena. It has been a long time since I have been back to Minnesota, so I do not know if they still have them hanging up or not. It was awesome to see the State of Hockey represented.
The AAA baseball stadium in Indianapolis hosts the IHSAA Baseball State Finals every year and the winning teams get to have their jerseys in a display in the concourse. link
I think they do the same thing for the basketball state champions at Gainbridge Arena, but I can’t find any photos online.
A fun and easy way to build support between the team and its nearby communities. I wish everyone did it.
I love this. Every (W)NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB and MLS team should do this. A fun way to promote community ties indeed.
I’m surprised you didn’t mention how the Dutch national football team often wears their youth clubs’ shirts in training! link
I love this practice. I’m also disappointed in how rote the Radnor sweater is, since that was the school district my family lived in when I was little. Would have been my high school if my dad’s job hadn’t moved us to Minnesota.
Interesting fact about West Chester East, the school poaching the Minnesota Vikings logo (and my alma mater). The school has a VERY rarely used Viking logo that ISN’T stealing from Minnesota, at least not mostly. I can’t find any examples of it online, but the logo is mirrored, shorter, and squatter, with thicker helmet horns, and much thicker brushstrokes on the black outlines. Again, I cannot find it ANYWHERE online (at least not in a short google search), but if you’re ever poking around the athletic facilities, you’ll find it every now and then.
(Including on the wall opposite from the computer lab where I started reading Uni Watch back in 2014)
there are quite a few local Philly area high schools who use the Minnesota Vikings logo in addition to WC East. Northeast H.S, Archbishop Wood and Upper Merion to name a few.
I love that Liberty Bell logo.
Here’s a better look at that blurred-out Father Judge sweater in the photo at the top:
link
The puck is set to drop for their game in a few – Go Crusaders!
The Flyers have done this for a couple of years.
And in addition to West Chester East, I can think of 2 schools in South Jersey that rip off the Vikings. In fact, every school in my high school athletic conference either heavily modified or outright stole a college or pro logo.