Umbro casts Shadow over Canada

In a move signalling serious ambition by the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), the latter has signed an important kit partnership deal with the global soccer equipment giant.

Both men’s and women’s national soccer teams will take to field wearing the smartly designed new Umbro jerseys, replete with the traditional Canadian colours of red and white, accessorized with a bold new chevron across the chest.  While the chevron aesthetic has its motivation in a move signifying solidarity with the Canadian Armed forces, it has a storied history in the game of soccer dating back to the early 20^th century.

While casual observers may liken the jersey to a smarter version of the classic look sported by Peru or Argentina’s River Plate, the motivation and character of the design are uniquely Canadian.  And for a country that gave the world the smart designs of the Winter Olympic Games at Vancouver, in 2010, this jersey is the latest coup for Canadian national sporting identity.

With high quality embroidery, twin needle cuff finishing, as well as tactically enhanced shoulder darts and polyester wicking for maintaining a cool body temperature, the entire product is both comfortable and designed for peak performance.  The home jersey has a white background with a vermillion and red chevron, while the away jersey complements the former perfectly, with the body in bright red and the chevron in white and black.

The designers of the jersey put great thought into designing the jersey to reflect both Canadian sporting pride and national identity.  The bold colours and anatomical design are just that, with bold colouring to go with the dynamic design that all Canadian sporting teams proudly display.

The move is a significant one as it ties in the growing popularity and upsurge of Canadian soccer with one of the World’s oldest and best established soccer brands.  It combines both the coming of age of North America’s latest global soccer ambition and one of the key players in the marketing and commercialisation of soccer over the last few decades.

With Umbro now on Canada’s side, one looks forward to an improvement in both the funding and performance of Canada’s soccer structure and teams, respectively.  With the excellent women’s national team already one of the top sides in the world and the men’s team a sporadic presence in the later rounds of North American competition, we all hope to see them acquire and cement a spot at global soccer’s top table.

The official uniform was worn for the first time on February 9^th, 2011 by the men’s national team during their friendly against Greece, the 2004 European Champions.  It goes on sale from June 1^st, 2011 with a recommended price of CDN $60.00