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Every theme night of the 2024 Washington Spirit season, fans can expect concourse activities, activations, in-game entertainment and giveaways centered around visibility and awareness for the respective theme. However, today, Disability Awareness Day will also feature a unique touchpoint for fans and the community.
Created with disability inclusivity in mind, the Spirit developed its 2024 Disability Awareness merchandise collection hand-in-hand with one of its veteran goalkeepers, Nicole “Barnie” Barnhart.
This special line features designs that showcase the various motifs of the disabled community, including a piece featuring the Washington Spirit signed in American Sign Language (ASL). Instead of following a traditional merchandise design process, the team – spearheaded by Senior Director of Brand, Commercial Marketing, and Merchandise, Meg Patten – took the time to collaborate with Barnhart, so that fans of all abilities are able to show support and rep the Spirit like never before.
During a routine player branding meeting between Spirit athletes and the marketing team, Barnie was asked an unexpected question.
“I thought the meeting was going to be more about social media and how I needed to be more on it, because I am not, but I was pleasantly surprised with the direction it went,” Barnie laughed.
To Patten, Barnie’s passion for the disabled community, tied with her secret talent for art, called for a unique collaboration.
Instead of talking about a plan to augment her online presence, Barnie was asked to design a t-shirt for the September 7 match.
“I said, ‘Yes! I would love to do that.’ I hadn’t really drawn or done artwork lately, so it’s a fun project and a good way to be forced to do a little bit of art,” Barnie said.
The conversation quickly developed into a working project, and, soon enough, Barnie had her first design. Drawing from her roots, she used the stacked format of the LOVE sculpture in Philadelphia City Center and combined it with a heart filled with symbols and icons representative of the disabled community. Her more complicated second design centers a half wheelchair, half heart encompassed by small doodles symbolizing the disabled community.
With her first two designs created, the next step was submitting it for feedback – a cornerstone process for the Spirit marketing team.
“We want to make sure that everything we are doing is reflective of the communities we work with and how they are represented,” Patten noted.
Barnie hand-drew her art for this collection and spent four and a half hours on the colorization process of the poster alone, slowly adding details and making sure the colors were right. Next, her designs were digitized and sent off for approvals. Once approved, they were sent through production and the merchandising process so the products can be ready for concourse and online purchase on game day.
For Barnie, it’s a new position off the pitch, but not unfamiliar territory as an artist and Studio Art major during her college days at Stanford University. “I am excited that they were able to find something I loved and be able to incorporate it and use it within the team. To be a part of that branding and building out that special day, it’s kind of like bringing all my passions and loves together in one collective thing.”
Working with a player on the merchandise side is new for the Spirit, but with a professional like Barnie, the process was seamless.
“She’s one of those people you can count on. She delivered her highly detailed designs before our due dates and asked the right questions along the way. It’s evident that Barnie cares for this community and the end product,” Patten said of working with Barnie.
“It’s clear to her this is something that she’s very passionate about – both drawing and her community work – it really shines through in her work.”
The Washington Spirit Disability Awareness collection will be available online and in-stadium beginning Saturday, September 7. 10% of the proceeds will go to So Kids SOAR, an organization built to empower youth with physical and developmental disabilities to strive, own, achieve and realize their potential.
