Logo change leads to new uniforms

“Look good, play good.” That’s a motto we live by at school.  

     A staple of our athletic program, the Haverford “H” makes an appearance on every piece of athletic apparel the school offers. Still, the logo’s details go unknown to most students.

     The marketing and communications office’s Haverford School Brand Guide states, “The Haverford School ‘H’ is the primary identity mark for Haverford athletics. All official athletic material of any kind must use the primary mark.” 

     This means no seal and no crest. The H is now omnipresent on school athletic uniforms. 

     Recently, the communications and athletic departments redesigned the H. At a glance, the new H is indistinguishable from its predecessor; the only difference is the outline of the letter. Before, H was circumscribed in an outer layer of gold followed by a transparent layer. The difference in the new H lies in the transparent layer, which is now white.

     Head rowing coach and Associate Director of Marketing and Communications Mr. Jon Stephanik said, “[The change] was a result of our printing company. They were no longer able to print the transparent layer in the middle of the logo.” 

     This seemingly minor change will produce many ripple effects. Every athletic uniform on campus bore the old H, and now every athletic uniform must include the new H. This means every team must design an exciting new uniform. 

“We are going to roll out the new uniforms in waves. It’s not going to be one day everyone has a new uniform.”

Athletic Director Mr. Michael Murphy

     “We are going to roll out the new uniforms in waves,” Athletic Director Mr. Michael Murphy said. “It’s not going to be one day everyone has a new uniform.” 

     According to Mr. Murphy, the new uniform designs are not left entirely up to the coaches, but coaches do have a considerable input. 

     “I wanted to keep [the crew design] simple, white top big H in the front, not too showy to keep the focus on the rowing, which I think accurately represents what we stand for here,” Mr. Stephanik said. 

     “I wanted a nice clean jersey with the Haverford H front and center,” Ice Hockey Head Coach Dr. Daniel Goduti said. “Long term, these will be way easier to replace as there is a lot less embellishment than our old jerseys.” 

     The maroon uniforms with a big H debuted on the ice this season.

     Some coaches, including lacrosse coach Mr. Brendon Dawson, delegated the task of jersey design to their Sixth Form captains.

“The [old] numbers and design had too much going on.” 

Lacrosse captain Brennan McBride ’20

     Sixth Former Brennan McBride said, “We had a few things we knew we wanted to have on it before we started, including stripes on the sleeve and an American flag somewhere on the jersey. Our old jerseys were hard to read. The numbers and design had too much going on.” 

     The final design, similar to hockey and rowing, is a white jersey with maroon sleeve stripes and a big H. 

     As they evolve, the new uniforms reflect the theme of simplicity, with a goal of keeping the focus on the player and the hard work put into the sport rather than flashy looks and gaudy colors.