Specialty jerseys are an increasingly common sight in both collegiate and professional athletics, from the University of Houston’s Oilers-inspired uniforms to the NBA’s one-of-a-kind city edition jerseys. However, at the University of California Davis, new specialty uniforms aren’t paying homage to the campus spirit or past local teams, they’re focused on something bigger.
According to The Aggie, UC Davis athletics partnered with the Tahoe Environmental Research Center to create Lake Tahoe-inspired jerseys for nine UC Davis athletics teams, including football.
“Over the summer, [we] signed a new deal with Adidas; that’s who outfits all of our teams,” said Danielle Shank, senior associate athletics director for external relations and chief marketing officer at UC Davis. “With signing this deal, they gave us some promotional money […]. I was talking with our athletic director about how he wanted to spend some of that promotional money, and we’re always looking for ways that we can show that Athletics is really the front porch of the university.”
The jerseys, in a “bold aqua” color scheme with the outline of the lake, represent Lake Tahoe and are meant to bring attention to the environmental crisis facing the ecosystem.
“When we worked with Adidas and looked at their color palette, that’s actually the name of the color,” Shank said. “We were looking at different shades of blue as much as we were learning about the Tahoe Environmental Research Center. Their research, their innovation is also pretty bold, and so it kind of seemed like the perfect marriage.”
The partnership between UC Davis and TERC goes beyond the jerseys as well. The athletics department is promoting TERC’s website and sharing links on social media to boost the presence of the research center.
Shank also said that UC Davis fans and alumni can acquire their own Tahoe Blue merchandise both at the sideline store and the university bookstore. While the design started for nine teams this year, it will be expanded to other sports in the coming seasons.
