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On Saturday, February 8th 2025, the Terre Haute North Vigo “Patriot’s” Varsity Boys Basketball team were the first local team to represent the 181st Intelligence Wing “Racers,” sporting jerseys with the Racer name in their home game against Decatur Central High School.
Two years ago, TSgt Mason Smith, a recruiter at the 181st IW, proposed a loaner jersey concept to partner with local high school basketball teams, further engaging the base with the community. Smith persevered through various challenges to bring the concept to reality, establishing the Racer jersey as a way to represent the team spirit of the base.
According to Smith, the jerseys are an all-around win, representing the positive partnership between the recruiting team and the community. It also provides a way for high school teams to personally embody and represent military values through the game they are passionate about.
“I have not seen an Air National Guard basketball uniform before,” said Smith. “As a former athlete myself, I tried to put myself in their shoes and imagine how excited I would be to represent our military and veterans.”
The goal is to partner with as many schools as possible, offering the opportunity to wear the jerseys to any local teams interested. The second phase of his vision is to create another set of jerseys for ‘away’ teams, so that no games are excluded.
“It was really a historic night for us,” stated Smith. “To my knowledge, these are the first Air Guard jerseys that were worn by a high school basketball team, and I was happy to be a part in making that happen.”
Several design changes took place in order to best represent the base and military, creating a jersey that is unique and distinctive. First, the flag is a symbol of our nation’s freedom and unity. Second, Indiana’s state symbol represents our history, liberty, enlightenment and far-reaching influence. Thirdly, the OCP pattern that runs down each side of the jersey and shorts pays tribute to the past and present service members that protect our nation. Lastly, the checkered pattern outlining the OCP accents, and the IndyCar silhouette with checkered flags on the front of the shorts, represents the history of the base as “Racers.” The Racer nickname was given to the unit and Airmen from the wing, paying tribute to our historic relationship with Anton "Tony" Hulman Jr. and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Following Saturday’s game, the Racer jerseys have a record of 1-0, christening a positive future for the initiative.
| Date Taken: | 02.13.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.13.2025 19:48 |
| Story ID: | 490791 |
| Location: | TERRE HAUTE, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 34 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Terre Haute North Debuts 181st Recruiting Jerseys, by A1C Nicholas Momotiuk, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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