Ohio high school basketball game becomes ARMY scrimmage

[LAWeaver]

I was scrolling through Facebook recently and came across this bizarre high school basketball uniform matchup. The Watkins Memorial Warriors (Etna, OH) were playing host to the Zanesville Blue Devils (Zanesville, OH), but you wouldn't really be able to tell that or, really, who-was-who as both teams wore uniforms sponsored by the ARMY National Guard, with Watkins (I believe) wearing white at home, and Zanesville wearing the black uniforms:

 

I don't know enough about these types of deals in high school athletics, but I know that it's not limited to basketball, by any means. In football, the Army National Guard has sponsored uniforms for dozens of teams across the state. 

 

 

The biggest issue with the football uniform, as you can see, is the black numbers on camo. As a football broadcaster for radio, I'm thankful I have only called one game with a team in this jersey (looking at you, Reynoldsburg). We have at least three teams in our coverage area have black, red, and white color schemes - two of which play in the same division - and are indistinguishable from each other in photos because of this.

 

I've been told that these are basically trade deals where the Army National Guard provides teams with a full uniform set and basically get free publicity in return. You see this more often on Military  Appreciation nights. I understand the gesture, but there's gotta be a better, simpler way. 

[WSU151]

Very bizarre, and I'm not a fan of this approach, especially for high school. 

[MJWalker45]

On 1/25/2023 at 11:58 AM, LAWeaver said:

I don't know enough about these types of deals in high school athletics, but I know that it's not limited to basketball, by any means. In football, the Army National Guard has sponsored uniforms for dozens of teams across the state. 

 

The biggest issue with the football uniform, as you can see, is the black numbers on camo. As a football broadcaster for radio, I'm thankful I have only called one game with a team in this jersey (looking at you, Reynoldsburg). We have at least three teams in our coverage area have black, red, and white color schemes - two of which play in the same division - and are indistinguishable from each other in photos because of this.

 

I've been told that these are basically trade deals where the Army National Guard provides teams with a full uniform set and basically get free publicity in return. You see this more often on Military  Appreciation nights. I understand the gesture, but there's gotta be a better, simpler way. 

The problem with those football jerseys as well is that they clash with a lot of teams that wear them. 

https://www.weirtondailytimes.com/sports/local-sports/2021/09/big-red-one-of-17-teams-wearing-national-guard-jerseys/

http://varsitygloves.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/IndFBGloves3.jpg

https://timesuniononline.com/Content/Local-News/Sports/Article/Warriors-To-Wear-Military-Themed-Uniforms/2/226/114860

Indiana does this now too.

[hormone]

In western PA, they go around to the schools during football (not sure about basketball) and do a gold star game. The team chosen wears camo (they take the jerseys with them cause kids get random numbers) and here’s the weird part they started last year…each player gets announced as a soldier who lost his life. So if the QB is number 6 John Smith and army doesn’t have a 6 in his size, he might be number 11 and instead of John smith, he’s staff sergeant Bob Jones. This has to be a nightmare for any type of record keeping and announcing let alone the aesthetic of the jersey. I’ve never went to a game like that, but I teach at a rather large high school that usually gets chosen and I have a ton of athletes in class since I’m a PE teacher 

[Sykotyk]

I've been to a few. As a photographer, I hate the camo jerseys.

 

 

Not only did Waterloo (wearing maroon) wear the camo jerseys, it was also October, so had the pink socks for Breast Cancer Awareness.

 

I mean.... tell me what number this is from a distance?