Pacific FC has paired up with a local soccer fan to find a unique way to mark the moment four players reached 100 games for the club.
Players Sean Young, Josh Heard, Thomas Meilleur-Giguère and Kunle Dada-Luke, each received custom hand-painted denim jackets to mark the moment they became ‘centurions’ in the Canadian Premier League (CPL).
The jackets were designed and created by Blake McStravick, a Victoria resident and member of the supporters’ club, Calamari Collective. Taking up to six hours to create, McStravick intricately tailored each jacket to reflect the players’ personalities.
About his design for Dada-Luke’s jacket, McStravick said, “It has an African fish eagle on the back and that's because he's of Nigerian heritage. He's eligible to play for the Nigerian national team, and I know that he aspires to that.”
To reflect Meilleur-Giguère’s position in defence, his jacket displays a brick wall, decorated with graffiti. For club captain Heard, the jacket has an arm rising from the sea holding a trident. Whilst Young’s jacket represents his rise to ‘centurion’ with a gladiator theme.
“They all seemed really pleased with their jackets,” said McStravick. “Definitely very grateful and maybe a little humbled.”
The local artist was commissioned by the club to create the jackets to mark the moment in a more unique way.
“Marking 100 games for one club is commonly done in soccer, but usually it's the jersey in a frame with 100 on it,” said McStravick. “So they wanted to find something a bit more unusual and involve the community a bit more.”
This is not the first time the soccer fan has designed and created custom jackets. His denim passion project began in 2020 during the pandemic, when restrictions meant he couldn’t join his fellow supporters to paint large banners, known as ‘tifo flags’, to display at the stadium.
And he could not have done it without his beloved club, who he credits as his inspiration for the launch of his artistic endeavours.
“I've always been a person who sort of had artistic inclinations,” said McStravick. "But I've never really had a clear muse or purpose. So diving into the visual arts and painting tifo flags for the club has sort of drawn me in. It’s only grown from there.”
Looking ahead, McStravick hopes that there will be more commissions from the club as more players reach milestone moments. But if not, he promises that there will be more to come.
“I'm already thinking about my next project,” said McStravick.
Follow @crow_and_cat on Instagram to see more of McStravick’s work.
