Well, since KU football coach Clint Bowen decided to stop the insanity and choose one home uniform and one road look for the football program, I have decided to turn my attention to some of the non-revenue sports. Today, I’ll focus on my what is probably my favorite uniform set that any team on KU’s campus wears, and that’s the soccer team. Today, we’ll look at the past, present, and also what the future holds.
I’m kind of a football kit nerd, as I have a whole closet full of jerseys from various clubs and countries from around the world. One I don’t have, but would love to own, is a 2014 KU soccer jersey. All three of KU’s kits this season are spectacular. But first, let’s step back into the not-so-distant past.
There was a time when KU soccer wore a simple white jersey and a solid blue jersey while sometimes mixing up the combo for some contrast. While both are nice, you could tell that KU kit manufacturer Adidas was just using a template and handing those off to KU year after year. As a purist, I would like to see the Jayhawk as a crest over the heart rather than a sprawling word mark, so these uniforms with a small KU logo where the traditional crest is supposed to go are my favorites of the older era.
Now, while the new Kansas soccer kits do not satisfy the purist in me, with NCAA regulations of having a number on the front, the 2014 uniforms are as good as they get in college soccer. Here’s a quick synopsis:
I love stripes of any kind, so these fit the bill for me. The number is a little too big for me but NCAA regulations are again at play. The giant Jayhawk logo fills the space where a sponsor would go on a professional kit, and it looks amazing on these uniforms. These shirts are matched up with white shorts which feature a wide blue stripe that aligns with the jersey’s blue stripe that runs from the underarm to the bottom of the shirt. White socks complete the uniform set.
As much as I like the blue and whites, I like the blue and reds even better. All the same elements are at play here as on the previously mentioned set, but with both Kansas school colors in full display, these are near perfection. KU wears these with blue shorts with a red stripe and they look sharp. KU wears red socks with this uniform, but I think blues would look better. Either way, these uniforms are awesome.
Halfway through the 2014 season, KU broke out red alternate jerseys that featured a blue sash and the 1941 angry Jayhawk. These are tremendous. The sleeves are blue and that blue makes it’s way into the sash. The white number pops with contrast, and the red shorts and blue socks look great too. Overall, a solid look that continues the trend within the KU athletic department of using the angry Jayhawks on red alternate uniforms.
KU also wore a one-time pink cancer awareness jersey against Missouri State.
The beauty of all this is that KU can mix and match any of these elements and they’d all look good. Red and blue hoops with white shorts and blue socks? Sign me up. Blue and white hoops with blue shorts and white socks? Cool by me. Red/white/blue? Yep, let’s try that.
KU soccer got it all right with these uniforms.