SHOWING OFF THEIR PRIDE
Orlando Pride players, from left, Alex Morgan, Marta, Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger pose in Kennedy Space Center to unveil the team’s new 2021 home kit.
“I think it’s incredible to see the NWSL continue to grow in the number of teams, the recruitment of better and better athletes from around the world.”
— Jackie Hayter, Orlando Health director of sports partnerships
The Orlando Pride primed fans for the impending 2021 NWSL season with a kit launch — a literal one, sending the team’s “Ad Astra” primary kit into space Tuesday.
The space-themed kit pays tribute to Central Florida’s Space Coast and the region’s rich history in the space industry.
The club coordinated a space launch with Sent Into Space, a British-based company that took the 2021 kit and a game ball into space. The Pride plan to use that game ball to kick off the team’s regular-season home opener in May.
To accomplish the launch, the company attached the jersey and ball to a high-altitude balloon. After reaching the edge of space — roughly 50 miles above sea level — for long enough to capture images, the balloon popped and allowed the vessel to free-fall back to earth.
To Orlando Pride executive vice president Amanda Duffy, the launch reflects the dedication of the club and kit sponsor Orlando Health to support the women’s game.
“Ultimately I’m just proud of our investment,” Duffy said. “It’s not just resources and finances toward this, it’s our investment of time that has allowed us to arrive at this point to have such a special kit with special meaning . ... When you’re wearing it, it represents more than just the club.”
The Pride are also using the kit to highlight Black women whose accomplishments in the aerospace industry have often been overshadowed. The team’s stars wore the names of four of these women for a photo shoot at the Kennedy Space Center last week.
U.S. women’s national team star Alex Morgan wore the name of Nichelle Nichols, a Black woman who broke barriers on screen for her “Star Trek” role as Uhura.
acters on television, Nichols dedicated her life for advocacy through NASA and led efforts to recruit people of color and women to the space program.
Pride captain Ashlyn Harris dedicated her jersey to Katherine Johnson, the mathematician whose orbital calculations were a cornerstone to the launch of the first U.S. manned space flights, including the trajectory for Alan Shepard’s flight in 1961 as the first American in space.
Fellow captain Ali Krieger wore the name of Mary Jackson, the first Black woman to become an engineer for NASA and a leader in improving aerodynamics for U.S. aircraft. Jackson worked on flight experiments while petitioning the city of Hampton, Virginia, to allow her to attend engineering classes in 1953.
Brazilian star Marta used her kit to honor Dorothy Vaughan, the mathematician who oversaw Johnson and Jackson. Vaughan led the NASA programming division, preparing the entire organization for the introduction of machine computers.
All three women were showcased in the 2016 film “Hidden Figures,” which depicted their dedication and contribution to the expansion of space travel in the U.S.
“As it was coming together, there were certain design elements that we wanted to be representative of certain figures and women and women of color that were the inspiration to certain design elements,” Duffy said. “[They] were central to the progress that we’ve seen. They allowed more opportunities to come and a conversation that is ongoing and speaks back to the timelessness of what this jersey and narrative represents.”
Details of the kit design are also designated as symbols for the aerospace industry and the contributions of Black women to the space program.
The jersey sports a patch in the shape of the Project Mercury vessel and the outline of Johnson’s trajectory calculations. The patch also includes the jersey theme — “Ad Astra” — which means “to the stars.” The upper half of the kit includes outlines of three stars, which symbolize the “Hidden Figures” women.
Duffy said the club plans