The Alabama Soccer League

[RevNet]

Today's post is brought to you by the letter "V", because you are getting a double-dose of teams today. I decided to post these two teams together for a few reasons: (1) Both these teams start with the letter "V", (2) both these teams are in the same conference, (3) they're pretty close to each other, and (4) with the teams below, the Birmingham Metro Conference is complete.

 

First team on the docket is:

 

Vestavia Hills SC

Team Colors: Vestavia Red (Pantone 711 C), Vestavia Blue (Pantone 3581 C), Hill Green (Pantone 3508 C)

Liner Notes

Spoiler

The Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills lies just to the south of Homewood in Jefferson County and has a population of just under 40,000. It is named for the 20-acre Vestavia estate of George B. Ward, who was a former mayor of Birmingham. Ward's mansion at the estate was patterned after the Temple of Vesta in Rome, and it became an area landmark as soon as it was completed in 1925. After Ward's death in 1940, the mansion was used as a tearoom and reception hall before the local Baptist church purchased it and held service there until 1971 where it made way for a larger building, although a central portion of the mansion still remains. Development of the Vestavia Hills suburb began in 1946, when developer Charles Byrd planned a subdivision for approximately 1,000 people on the southern flank of Shades Mountain. The suburb was incorporated as a separate city on November 8, 1950. The local high school (where the red and blue colors come from) is well-known for its math and debate teams, both of which have won several national championships.

 

The logo design is based on the city's seal. It starts out with a green-outlined white oval with a Roman-style gazebo on the top (mirrored after the gazebo at the mansion which itself is patterned after the Temple of Sibyl in Tivoli) and three green flowers in the center which represent the city's motto of "Unity, Prosperity, Family". Laid on top of the oval are the red letter "V" and a blue letter "H". The green "SC" text at the bottom of the oval completes the design. The primary kit, "The VH Rebels Kit", consists of a solid white shirt with a red collar and red sleeve cuffs, along with a red-and-blue hoop pattern along the front. The kit is made complete with red shorts with white detailing, and white socks with red detailing. The secondary kit, "The Vesta Kit", consists of a solid green shirt with a white collar and white sleeve cuffs. The kit is made complete with white shorts with green detailing, and green socks with white detailing.

 

The sponsor of the team, McWane, Inc., is one of the world's largest manufacturers of iron water works and plumbing products and one of America's largest privately owned companies. It was founded in Birmingham, where it maintains its headquarters. Birmingham locals known McWane for the McWane Science Center, which the McWane family donated $10 million towards. It opened in 1998.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is golfer Smylie Kaufman, who was born in Birmingham and attended Vestavia Hills High School.

 

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For the team below, we'll be heading just a bit further south.

 

Vulcan Company SC

Team Colors: Company Blue (Pantone 3581 C), Hammer White (White)

Team Secondary Color: Vulcan Gold (Pantone 7768 C)

 

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

Although Helena is primarily a city in Shelby County, it is considered a suburb of Birmingham. Settlement didn't begin in the area until 1849, though there had been earlier interactions between the Muscogee tribe and European traders. The town was initially named Cove by the war veterans of the War of 1812 who were attracted to the area's quiet valleys and streams after the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The name was changed just seven years later in 1856 to Hillsboro. During the Civil War, Peter Boyle, an engineer for the railroad working on a new line, met and courted Helen Lee. He would name the rail station that supported the rolling mill after her. Eventually the town was named Helena after the train station.

 

This team is a company team, through and through, as is evidenced by it being sponsored by the Birmingham-based Vulcan Materials Company, which was founded in 1909 as the Birmingham Slag Company by Henry Badham and Solon Jacobs. The company deals with the production, distribution and sale of construction materials, such as crushed stone, sand, and gravel. One of the company's facilities that produces these materials is in Helena.

 

The logo design is a simple blue letter "V" and a white hammer on top. The primary kit, "The Company Kit", consists of a blue-and-white striped shirt, blue shorts with white detailing, and white socks with blue detailing. The secondary kit, "The Gold Kit", is an all-gold kit with white detailing kit. All three colors of the team come from the company website.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is Bo Bice, the Helena native who was the runner-up in Season 4 of the American Idol singing competition series. Who beat him? Why, none other than Carrie Underwood.

 

The last team of the league will be posted tomorrow!

 

[RevNet]

Well, this is it. Below is the last team of the league, and it's got an interesting story, too. With it, The Shoals Conference is complete. I want to thank everybody, whether you just visited the thread or left a helping comment within. This league was a challenge, but really fun to do, as well. I have a small gift for all of you at the bottom of this post as appreciation for this day. Now, without further ado, here is...

 

Winston Republic SC

Team Colors: Forester Green (Pantone 2427 C), Republic Gold (Pantone 123 C)

 

Liner Notes

Spoiler

First, the name of this team is Winston Republic SC, instead of the "Winston County SC" nomenclature that a team that represents a whole county would receive. Why? Well, it has to do with its history, which I get to below. Haleyville is not the county seat, but it has the largest population in the county at 4,361.

 

The county was formed as Hancock County on February 12, 1850 from land that formerly belonged to Walker County, directly to its south. It was renamed on January 22, 1858 to Winston County in honor of John A. Winston, a former Governor of Alabama. During the Civil War, the county gained attention when it opposed Alabama's secession from the Union. This opposition was so strong that the county is sometimes called the Free State of Winston or the Republic of Winston (the latter of which is where this team gets its name from). One reason for this opposition is that the land in the county and beyond was hilly and had shallow soil. Therefore, it was highly unsuitable for plantation-style agriculture, and thus it wasn't home to a lot of slaves (122 to be exact by a census in 1861). The county's residents at the time were primarily poor farmers. Ultimately, Winston County was one of the few places at the time that had soldiers fighting for both sides. The county relies on this unique legacy of being the "Free State of Winston" to bring tourism to the area. This opposition is also mentioned in the novels To Kill A Mockingbird and Addie Pray. Finally, in front of the county courthouse in Double Springs is the Dual Destiny Monument, which has both the American and the Confederate flags flown behind its statue.

 

The logo design starts out with a green outline map of Winston County with five gold stars on the inside of it for the five cities/towns in Winston County: Haleyville (top-left), Double Springs (center), Addison (top-right), Arley (bottom-right), and Lynn (bottom-left). The gold letters of "W" on top and "R" on the bottom of the map complete the design. The green and gold colors come from those found on the shield of the U.S. Forestry Service, because much of the county is within the William B. Bankhead National Forest, one of four in Alabama. This is also where "The Foresters" nickname comes from. The primary kit, "The Republic of Trees Kit", is an all-green kit with gold diagonal lines on the body of the shirt and gold detailing throughout. The secondary kit, "The Forester Kit", is a total color reversal of the primary kit.

 

The sponsor of the team, Fontaine Trailer, is the largest platform trailer manufacturer in North America and it is headquartered in Haleyville.

 

The name on the back of the jerseys is actor Pat Buttram, who is best-known as Gene Autry's sidekick and as Mr. Haney in the Green Acres television series. Buttram was born in nearby Addison.

 

Now for my gift. This is just in case you happen to be driving in Alabama and you want to know where somebody's from within the state, you can use this map below to help you out when you look at a car's license plate:

 

 

I think we might be the only state in the Union that distributes their license plates in the above fashion, instead of just displaying the county name on the license plates. Appropriately enough, Winston County is listed last above, as it was in this league.

 

Now, I hand it over to you all. What was your favorite logo design? What's your favorite kit? Who are you supporting in this league? What was your favorite liner note? Let me know it all below. Also, if you have any questions about how this league came to be, you can also ask those below.