Bryanna Sánchez has a special reason to attend the Windy City Bulls game March 21 at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates.
“This will be the first time I see my uniform in action,” Sánchez said.
The 18-year-old South Elgin High School senior designed the basketball uniform to be worn by the team on Hispanic Heritage Night, entering a contest that was open to all School District U-46 students.
Sánchez’s design incorporates more than 20 flags of Latin American nations along the jersey’s side panels. It also includes the Bulls logo, the team’s name in Spanish (“Los Toros”) and a logo for the U-46 Educational Foundation. The shorts show the Chicago city skyline silhouetted against a red background.
The game, which has the Bulls facing off against the Mexico City Capitanes, is a fundraiser for the foundation.
“I thought it was important to see all those countries and cultures represented (in my design),” Sánchez said.
Karah Landries, ticket sales and community impact manager for the Windy City Bulls, said her concept ticked all their boxes.
“Our team felt that Bryanna’s final product encapsulated our contest’s goals the best, and we’re excited to share her expression of creativity with our players and fans,” Landries said.
U-46 Educational Foundation coordinator Jean Bednar said they’ve been holding fundraisers with the NBA G League Team for the last few years.
“For the current season, March 21 was one of the only available Fridays and the Bulls already had it slotted for the theme of Hispanic Heritage Night. So we were very happy to have it for our fundraiser game,” Bednar said.
Ethan Ketchmark, the team’s ticket sales and membership services manager, suggested the design contest for U-46 students, who worked with a template provided by the team.
About 50 students across an array of grade levels took out applications for the competition and six ended up submitting designs, Bednar said.
While the Windy City Bulls have worn specialty uniforms for Chicago Bulls Night, Polish Heritage Night and other special events, this year’s Hispanic Heritage Night marks the first time a uniform design contest has been held, Landries said.
It’s also the first time Sánchez has designed a piece of clothing.
“I enjoyed doing this. I thought it turned out great,” she said.
Sánchez said the skills she’s learning as part of U-46’s Beacon Academy of Media & Digital Arts translated well to working on the project. What also helped was working as a sports marketing and broadcasting intern last summer with the Kane County Cougars minor league baseball.
At South Elgin High School, Sánchez is a member of the varsity volleyball squad and the Sociedad Honoraria Hispánica (an honor society for high school students enrolled in Spanish and/or Portuguese language classes) and social media manager for Storm Nation, the school’s student spirit effort. She plans to study sports marketing and media in college.
Because she submitted the winning design, Sánchez will be given four tickets to the March 21 game; the uniform she designed, customized with her last name; and four Los Toros figurines, which the first 1,000 fans to arrive at the game will also receive.
All player jerseys, including the one worn by the team mascot, will be auctioned during the game, with proceeds benefiting the U-46 foundation.
Additionally, $5 from each $25 ticket sold also will go to the foundation, funds from which help pay for annual teacher grants and scholarships. Tickets can be purchased at fevo-enterprise.com/event/U462025.
Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
