The sponsors are new and different but Nati SC's home kit for The Soccer Tournament, the seven-versus-seven, winner-take-all soccer competition in June with a grand prize of $1 million for the winning team, should look familiar to longtime FC Cincinnati supporters.
The jersey pays homage to FC Cincinnati kits from the club's earliest days in what was then the third-tier United Soccer League, and the club's 2016 "orange-out" kit specifically. That's fitting because the vast majority of Nati SC's roster dates back to that era in team history.
When Nati SC takes to The Soccer Tournament fields in Cary, North Carolina June 1-4, they'll do so wearing the home kit, which will be emblazoned with the marks of multiple sponsors, as well as a primarily white away top.
Nati SC secured several sponsors for the kit ahead of "TST," including Cincinnati-based Fifth Third Bank as the primary shirt sponsor.
Prolink, the Norwood-based staffing and recruitment agency, has its mark on the right sleeve of both kits.
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Rooted Creative, the Downtown-based creative agency of which Nati SC member and FC Cincinnati alum Michael Millay is creative director and chief executive officer, also has its logo placed beneath the collar on back of the shirt.
Both the home kit and away kit are for sale.
'TST' draws near
Nati SC has been making waves this week, both for an interesting roster addition and because it learned its initial opponents for the tournament.
On Thursday, Nati SC announced former Bengals great and noted soccer connoisseur, Chad Johnson, would be playing in "TST" with Nati SC.
Since The Enquirer last checked in on Nati SC, the rest of the 32-team TST field was announced. Major soccer brands including Wrexham A.F.C. (the recently-promoted Welsh club co-owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney), and European clubs Borussia Dortmund, West Ham United, which will be managed by Tom Skinner (yeah, the "a-bosh" guy), and others will have a presence at TST.
On Thursday, Nati SC was drawn into a group that included Hashtag United FC, Gracie FC, and Conrad and Beasley FC.
Hashtag United FC is an organized, semi-professional club and esports organization that plays soccer in the London region but was originally formed in 2016 by YouTube personality Spencer Carmichael-Brown. Hashtag was essentially a barnstorming outfit that played against the staffs of other clubs, non-league teams and, well, other random opponents. Through highlight videos of their games posted to YouTube, Hashtag gained a large following.
Gracie FC would be familiar to followers of The Basketball Tournament, which preceded TST by several years, and the Gracie family is known in the area of martial arts.
Conrad and Beasley FC? Well, that's going to be a tough out for Nati SC because that team is headed by former USMNT stars Jimmy Conrad and Indiana native DaMarcus Beasley. This team is stacked with ex-pros and a couple existing ones, including former Louisville City FC player Chandler Hoffman. Hoffman's presence should offer Nati SC some extra motivation.
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