The SPHL’s Pensacola Ice Flyers are ready to soar among the clouds with special edition jerseys inspired by the Blue Angels aerobatic flight team.
The Ice Flyers unveiled the jerseys on Thursday, November 9, at the Blue Angels Hangar and Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. They’ll wear the jerseys during their first-ever Blue Angels Night and Military Appreciation Game on Saturday, November 11.
The jerseys are based on the Blue Angels’ flight suits, with two yellow vertical stripes down the left side of the bright blue base. A Blue Angels crest sits on the right chest, while a patch on the left chest contains an Ice Flyers wordmark along with the player’s number and surname in a script font. A script “C” or “A” also appears on the patch for captains or alternate captains.
The back of the jersey has “ICE FLYERS” written out in yellow on the collar and a Blue Angels wordmark beneath that. Player names and numbers appear in yellow, with the number font mimicking the numerals found on the tail fins of the Blue Angels’ aircraft.
The jerseys have an Ice Flyers logo on the right sleeve and an American flag on the left sleeve. The collar is blue with a yellow insert at the front, which contains an Ice Flyers logo.
The blue pants have a Blue Angels crest on the right side and an Ice Flyers logo on the left. The socks are solid blue with Blue Angels crests and Ice Flyers logos on the shins. The whole set is capped off with yellow helmets and gloves.
The Blue Angels have been based in Pensacola, Florida, since their inception in 1946. They fly Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet airplanes, and they typically participate in at least 60 airshows across North America each year.
Ice Flyers owner Greg Harris said in a story on the team’s website that the idea of a Blue Angels night has been in the works for a while.
“I just decided this year to take a deep dive and see if we could make this happen,” he said. “I was able to start the conversation with the approach of, ‘This is what we would like to do. What can we do? What can’t we do?’ So, it was a dialogue back and forth and they were great about it.”
“I would say it probably took about a month and half and we received final approval in early September. Any time we got a proof image of the jerseys, we sent to their legal team and then it went back to our jersey company with changes. It was a process. And it was good communication.”
The jerseys are made by OT Sports, based in Burlington, North Carolina. “OT Sports really helped us with the material used and design and how the patches on these jerseys will look,” Harris said. “They realized it was a great way to showcase the Blue Angels, how significant this was, and what they could do as a jersey company.”
