Mustangs get uniform overhaul

For more than two decades, the Heppner Mustangs football team has been one of the best and most consistent in Oregon.

Now in 2017, the Mustangs might also be the best dressed football team in the state.

This week, the Mustangs received brand new top-of-the-line uniforms from Nike thanks to a donation by the family of Robert Kilkenny, a longtime Heppner resident and Mustang football supporter who passed away in 2016. Nike supplied Heppner with four different uniform sets and the team also received four new helmet colors that give the team numerous combinations to choose from each Friday night.

“We couldn’t be more honored to have the brilliant minds at Nike design these uniforms for these amazing, hard-working kids on our football team in honor of our father and our town,” said Kilkenny’s daughter Kelly Hale in a press release. “Dad loved Heppner football — it was about who we were as individuals coming together as one for our community. It’s what we did growing up and it represented how we lived our lives.”

Heppner coach and athletic director Greg Grant said on Wednesday he was first contacted in April about the uniforms and asked if he was interested and would accept, which he was and he did.

“We’re humbled by the fact that (the family) would do this for us,” he said. “We have to realize that it won’t make us run faster or jump higher but it presents the kids with gifts they’ll never forget … My No. 1 goal was that I never wanted the kids to look around and wish they’d played somewhere else and this puts it over the top.”

The jerseys are part of Nike’s Vapor Untouchable template, which is being used on the field this fall by most NFL and college football teams as well. Grant recalled being blown away when told of this, because at the time only the Oregon Ducks and Clemson Tigers had worn the Vapor Untouchable template, and now the small rural school of Heppner would be in the same gear.

“I was like ‘My team gets this?,” he recalled, being in awe. “And as a parent I knew this was something that gets kids excited and getting to watch the kids reacting would be special.”

Along with the traditional royal blue and white jerseys with blue pants, the Mustangs will now have a gold jersey with blue numbers and a gray jersey with blue numbers as well as gray, white and gold pants.

Nike is also supplying the team with the latest cleats and gloves that create an image of the updated Mustang logo when placed together.

On the helmets, the Mustangs will also be sporting one of two updated logos: the letter ‘H’ inside a circle branding iron and an image of a Mustang wrapping from side-to-side on the helmets. The ‘H’ logo also appears on the chest of the jerseys.

“We’re going to be the envy of Oregon and maybe the nation,” Grant joked. “Not many schools get to wear this nice of stuff and we’re so thankful for it.”

The team will also wear a decal on the back of the helmets of a three-leafed clover the letters ‘BB’ inside it, honoring “Bad Bob” Kilkenny and his Irish roots.

“The Heppner football uniform was a special project for the Nike design team to work on, meant to honor Bob, his contributions to the community and the Kilkenny family,” Nike Creative Director Todd Van Horne said in the release. “We look forward to the Mustangs taking to the field in Nike’s latest football innovation and wish them all the success during the upcoming season.”

The Mustangs got their first look at the uniforms in person on Wednesday night, and senior Beau Wolters, whose favorite combination is the gray-on-blue, said he is so thankful to have grown up in a town that supports him and his friends as much as the town and people of Heppner do.

“We are super fortunate to have sponsors like we do and to get brand-new Nike gear,” he said. “We had heard about them and didn’t really know how they were going to turn out. I honestly love the feel of the new jerseys, they are nice and snug and will fit very well on our pads.

“I’m very excited to see what’s in store.”

But as Grant pointed out on Wednesday, the Mustangs football team is not the only ones affected, as the other teams such as volleyball, girls basketball and cross country received new uniforms and equipment from Nike as well. And as a school administrator as well as a parent to athletes (Grant’s son, Kellen, plays football and his daughter, Sophie, is on the volleyball team), Grant feels blessed that the student-athletes were treated so well.

“Being able to just also provide opportunities for all kids on all sports was special,” Grant said. “All kids in Heppner got a new pair of shoes; not one person had to buy cross country shoes, or volleyball shoes or football cleats and that’s really special.”

The jerseys will be unveiled to the public at Heppner’s home opener on Friday when the Mustangs host St. Paul at Les Payne Field. The Kilkenny family will be on hand for the game, and then will join fellow supporters at Bucknum’s Tavern following the game.

Grant said that Heppner will wear the familiar all-royal blue look for Friday’s game and will always wear white on the road, but after that they’ll “see how much fun we can have.”

“We’ll live it up and enjoy the privilege we’ve been given,” Grant said, “and we’ll wear these with pride and dignity.”

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Contact Eric at esinger@eastoregonian.com or 541-966-0839. Follow him on Twitter @ByEricSinger.