The explosion of the custom charity kit market is hard to ignore thanks to increased accessibility with companies like Olive & York and Moneyball Sportswear. Midwest Premier League clubs in seasons previous have taken on the challenge of limited budgets and lack of notoriety to alter their signature looks to be a force for change. Edgewater Castle FC, DeKalb County United, Lansing Common FC, and Chicago House AC are a few MWPL clubs in 2023 that gave the shirt off their backs to make it more than a game.

A Tower of Strength for Chicago

For Miles Whitworth, Director of Marketing for Edgewater Castle FC, the benefits of unique on field apparel are only a small piece of the overall vision. “One of our biggest goals is to position ourselves as a crucial part of the community. Whether that is the youth camps that we sponsor, or just hosting events for the community. Doing community kits really circles back to our original goals,” he went on the explain.

When ECFC Women’s Captain Daphne Lyketsos is not on the pitch, she is involved in the marketing branch for the club and echoes the same sentiment “Our club's commitment to community support reflects a shared belief in the power of sports to inspire and unite. It means we not only play for our fans but also with a sense of responsibility to give back. It's about being role models, engaging in charitable initiatives, and using our platform to address important social issues. When we step onto the field, we carry the hopes and aspirations of our community with us, and that adds a deeper layer of purpose to our performance.”

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the Rooks recognized the need to keep vital resources in operation by debuting the “Solidary Kit” for My Block My Hood My City, providing multiple services for the citizens of Chicago.

For 2023, the Rooks debuted a Pride kit to benefit Center on Halsted, a non-profit LGBTQIA+ organization that has been offering programs such as group therapy, vocational training, and dance performances since its founding in 2007. They will be the latest community pillar strengthened by the power of soccer. “As a player and team captain, representing a club that prioritizes community support holds immense significance for me. It goes beyond the thrill of competition on the field,” explained Lyketsos. “It means being part of an organization that understands the profound impact soccer can have in fostering unity and positive change within the community.”

ECFC believes in telling a compelling story behind each charity kit. It is so easy to hide behind generic “proceeds go to” taglines for charity campaigns and ECFC wants to stray away from the hijacking of emotion. They believe in being completely transparent regarding financial benefits for organizations, lending to the genuine motivations of the initiatives giving supporters peace of mind. “We create content that highlights the cause we're supporting, the impact we aim to make, and the individuals or communities benefiting from our initiatives. Authentic storytelling resonates with our fans and the wider audience,” Lyketsos added.

With now having control over their club store production, the flexibility provides the Rooks with the ability to have a more positive footprint with charity kits while not having to worry about overproduction. “It opened up the opportunity to sell random designs that we like and be able to donate at any given time. This Pride kit will be able to be bought until we decide not to, for the rest of the year basically,” he said.

The Edgewater Castle Pride Kit benefitting Center on Halsted can be purchased here.

Power of the Paw

The evening of June 17th saw a record 619 pass through the gates to witness a coming together for a purpose, transcending the 2-1 triumph over Chicago House. In a joint venture with ZephyrosDesignsZA and soccer lifestyle brand Olive & York, DeKalb County United unveiled a violet pediatric cancer kit that caught the attention of fans across the league. The inspiration, however, was born out of a life-changing moment when 11-year-old Maggie Green, a sixth grader at Sycamore Middle School, was diagnosed with Epithelioid Sarcoma which is an extremely rare and highly recurring soft tissue tumor.

When Willem du Preez of Zephyros was told the story of Maggie, not a second thought was taken. Even all the way in South Africa where du Preez resides. “I went looking for some inspiration, especially since cats aren't really used in a football design. I played around with some various patterns but ultimately settled on a paw print pattern, which also symbolizes the footprint Maggie leaves on the life of everyone that meets her,” he explained. “I didn't want to make the jersey too bold or out there (which I felt a jersey full of paw prints would be) so the sash worked well to tie the classic and the pattern part of the jersey together.” Maggie’s own artwork of her cat Belle found a home on the back right above her lucky number. It did not take long for orders from DeKalb and MWPL circles to start pouring in.

The DeKalb community has rallied around Maggie, and you can run into the purple & paws all over town according to DKCU’s Brian VanBuren. “I coach AYSO soccer, and I was coaching one of my teams, sure enough one of the kids shows wearing a Maggie Strong jersey,” he said. “It’s like: Wow! That’s really cool I contributed to that and brought awareness to something really important. We played a small part in potentially helping that family through a really tough time.”

You can count on the Dekalb Local 815 Supporters Group as some of the first to step up and show what their community can do. “As an SG we love the Maggie Strong Kit!” said Founder & Vice Chairman Ben Holda. “We wear those kits with pride and love seeing others do so as well.”

With Maggie in attendance, the community rallied en masse on gameday including a skydiver descending from the summer sky to deliver Maggie her our custom kit. “We set a record attendance, a ton of purple jerseys out there,” said by DKCU President John Hall pridefully. “We bought custom socks for the players to wear purple which is Maggie’s favorite color. It was just kind of one of those magical nights…this is why we do this. The soccer part is fun but we’re making an impact. The cherry on top was when Maggie’s parents said what a great time she got to have because she got to run around with her friends and be a kid. After all the treatments and all the other things she’s had to go through with surgeries, she was able to just come out on a Saturday night and run around and be a kid. The wins are great, losses stink but were making an impact on people around us.”

To donate to Cal’s Angels pediatric foundation in Maggie’s memory, please visit this site.

Turning a House into a Home

Along with success on the pitch, Chicago House AC are taking their well-known black, orange, and green uniforms and proving that they are going to give back to everyone under the roof. The club has debuted a total of four kits with focus on the betterment of their community with the latest benefitting New Life Centers, specifically focused on stopping the normalization of gun violence. Before we dive into their latest initiative, it only makes sense to share how the club’s history in being a vehicle for change.

March 22, 2023, was a day of firsts for Chicago House AC as they debuted in the Lamar Hunt US Open while rolling out their first charity kit to benefit Ronald McDonald House. Those kits were auctioned off and thousands were able to be donated, not to mention the retail revenue brought it as well. “We were based on soccer with social consciousness,” explained Director of Team Relations and Communications Jenn Jarmula. “We try to give back more than we expect to bring in to create those bonds and environment.”

CHAC followed that up with a black & pink cancer awareness kit with Phil’s Friends emblazoned across the chest that debuted on May 27th of this year. Phil’s Friends, a nonprofit organization, provides support for those affected by cancer. The club took it one step further to show that soccer can be a vehicle for humanity.

“We had a cancer kit, so we put everyone who had a loved one that had fought cancer we put their name on the back and represented them on the back of jerseys. Some of those people were actively going through chemo and things during the game so I think that is a special moment for a player to give back and for them realize that there is life outside of soccer and things that are more important than the game,” said Head Coach Matt Poland.

An April 6th U.S. Open Cup 3rd round match against the Chicago Fire was the biggest game of the club’s history to that point. Once again, CHAC took the opportunity to bring awareness of the damage of gun violence and the normalization of this tragedies continually driving a stake in the heart of communities across the country.

Their partner for this kit is New Life Centers Chicagoland, a nonprofit that was originally created in 2005 to address the pressing issues of gang violence, teen pregnancy, justice system involvement, unemployment brought for them by fellow residents. The partnership for this kit also celebrates the work done to combat the senseless violence, with 5$ of every kit going right back to the organization.

“It was phenomenal, to say the least,” said Jenn Jarmula. “It was something I think people have come to expect because that was not our first charity jersey.”

“There are two things that are nonnegotiable for me when I go to coach a club. Number one, am I going to learn and grow? Because if I am not going to learn and grow there is no point in my being there,” explained Head Coach Matt Poland. “Number two, are you making a difference in the community? If the club you are going to coach for making a difference in the community. To see clubs actively doing that to make differences in their communities I think is amazing.”

CHAC charity kits can be purchased here.

Best of the Nest

There is a running joke of sorts within the sphere of Lansing Common FC that they are “A community organization that happens to run a soccer team”. The core group of both supporters and front office have been together for the past decade and have a history of giving back to the Lansing community under multiple badges.

2022 saw LCFC debut a special white kit with proceed benefitting Care Free Medical, an organization providing access to high quality, comprehensive primary and preventative health and dental services to uninsured and underserved individuals in the Lansing Michigan region and the Refugee Development Center which is a nonprofit organization focusing on helping refugees needs and offer numerous programs including English classes, housing and health navigation and career assistance.

“So, we had been looking for a way to grow our ability to support local organizations like Care Free Medical and RDC that are doing awesome work in the Lansing community,” explained LCFC President Eric Walcott regrading last year’s inspiration.

Moneyball Sportswear Designer & Director of team branding and a current LCFC supporter Geoff Sykes explains how his passion for design and the right opportunity came to benefit countless lives. “I always wanted to do a white kit. It was always in the back pocket when the club came to me and was like: This is our idea,” he explained. “I was like well this is an awesome opportunity because I have this [in my back pocket].”

The emotion of accomplishing something that ripples through your community is one thing. Approaching the situation logically to ensure you can continue to give back for years to come is a necessity. LCFC was looking for a way to do that on a larger scale and had seen that other teams auction off jerseys for a special cause at the professional level with some success. The club met a partner that was very interested in what the club was doing and wanted to support the club and its efforts to support the community. With that partnership we were able to offset the costs of making an extra set of uniforms and were able to turn that into a donation.

“I thought it was a great idea. Not only did I love the concept of it, but the actual look of the jerseys itself were beautiful,” said LCFC Midfielder Munir Sherali. “Lansing Common embodies more than just being a soccer club. It represents an organization with coaches, fans, board members, and players that have a purpose to serve others in their community.”

The club challenged itself after the 2022 season to find a way to exponentially increase the impact the kit sales had. With so many organizations nestled inside the city limits of Lansing, there will never be a shortage of those that need help. “As we were having different conversations about jersey sponsorships, we got excited at the idea of how do we promote these organizations in a bigger way, how do we go bigger with that,” Walcott added.

It was “mission accomplished” for the Robins during 2023 as the club doubled down on last year’s success with a white charity kit by turning both home and road uniforms into vehicles to give back more. Proceeds from every jersey sold went right back into the community with checks of $2,050 and $2,381 given to CFM and RDC respectively, in October.

“So really, it’s been kind of that overall process of how do we grow our support for the community and how do we continue to use soccer as a platform for the work we that we are trying to do in the community. It’s one of the big things we are lucky to be able to do,” Walcott concluded.

“It's something that takes a lot of effort and I respect all of the clubs that take time outside of soccer to invest towards a good cause,” Sherali added.

2023 Kits can be purchased here.

- Rich Schenck