Forward Madison plays the home opener in Ukraine shirts

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MADISON, Wis. – Forward Madison’s home opener kits were very different from their traditional navy and pink.

Their soccer team’s first home game of the season at Breese Stevens Field is Saturday night at 7 p.m. The crews spent the morning preparing, cleaning and organizing the bleachers.

“What we live for are days like today is opening day,” said owner and CEO Conor Caloia, with a big smile on his face. “It’s a sunny day, there’s great energy around the club at the moment.”

During the club’s first three years; it can serve as a sort of start or reset button.

“This is the first time we’ve opened a season at full capacity in a normal environment, since we opened in 2019,” Caloia said.

The team had to be different once on the pitch.

“When the conflict in Ukraine erupted at the end of February, we started asking ourselves: ‘What can we do?’ Caloia said.

They settled on special jerseys. The “pink flamingos” are known for them.

The jerseys are in the colors of the Ukrainian flag, with sunflowers on the sleeve.

“The way this club really speaks is through our kit, through our shirts,” he said. “It really became our voice in the first three years as a club.”

The rush was on for this to happen. They had about a month for the in-house designer to get going and then get the kits made.

“Most teams work with major international suppliers and have to order their kits 12 to 18 months in advance,” Caloia said. “We transformed this kit in 12-18 days.”

The striker’s shirts are made in Los Angeles and the owner’s grandfather is Ukrainian. The Forward team didn’t know this when they placed the order, but when it was placed, the supplier stepped up to make it happen quickly.

The team began selling the shirts on Friday, pledging to donate all proceeds to Unicef ​​relief efforts in Ukraine. It became an instant hit.

By Saturday morning, they had raised over $20,000. It had been less than 24 hours.

Caloia said they believe they are the only professional team to have custom kits designed to benefit the people of Ukraine.

“We are really happy to be able to work with our Forward Madison community to raise funds and hopefully make a small difference,” he said.

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