TEAM CANADA TO BE PROUDLY CLAD IN PLAID FOR THE OPENING CEREMONIES OF GLASGOW 2014
Canadian team incorporates the country's official Maple Leaf Tartan in uniform
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – Canadian athletes are making a serious push for the best-dressed title at the 2014 Commonwealth Games as they set out to enter the Opening Ceremony at Glasgow’s Celtic Park clad in plaid, a tribute to their Scottish hosts.
Team Canada’s uniform design was entrusted to RMP Athletic Locker, a Canadian company run by Mike Dyon, himself a Commonwealth Games alumni (1982, Brisbane, marathon). In consultation with athletes and representatives of Commonwealth Games Canada, RMP has admirably risen to the challenge of providing practical, comfortable, weather-appropriate and stylish clothing, earning particularly strong marks in the style department.
In the planning stages, thoughtful consideration was given to the locale of the Games and to Canada’s ties with Scotland. It seemed a natural fit to incorporate the official Canadian plaid, known as the Maple Leaf Tartan (created in 1964 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Canada’s Confederation in 1967), to be worn proudly by Canadians of all backgrounds regardless of their ancestry, as a symbol of national pride.
The Maple Leaf Tartan figures prominently in the clothing pieces produced by RMP, which are earning enthusiastic reviews when spotted by Glaswegians and denizens of the Athletes' Village. The all-plaid pants are already rumoured to have started early trade negotiations, an end-of-Games tradition where athletes and officials from different countries trade uniform pieces, with the hoodie being a close second in demand. However, few Canadian team members seem willing to part with them in these early stages. Only time will tell if they become the hottest commodity at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Village.
Scott Stevenson, Team Canada General Manager, has been stopped countless times in the Village: “People keep telling me: I have to have those pants! Where can I buy them?”. He unfortunately has to disappoint them by saying that they are reserved for members of the Canadian Team. He added: “A number of Scottish volunteers have voiced their own opinion as to what our Team should wear to the Opening Ceremony; not surprisingly, there is an overwhelming preference for the Maple Leaf Tartan pants.”
There is no question that Canada's tartan will play a role when Canadian athletes march into Celtic Park at the Opening Ceremony of the XXth Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, behind Canadian flag-bearer Susan Nattrass, a Canadian shooting legend participating in her 5th Commonwealth Games. Catch the action live on CBC, July 23rd at 3.30 p.m. ET (12.30 p.m. PT). For more information on CBC's coverage of the games, visit:http://www.cbc.ca/mediacentre/cbcs-multi-platform-canadian-coverage-of-the-xx-commonwealth-games-from-glasgow-scotland-begins-wedn.html
For more information on the Canadian team at the Commonwealth Games, visit: www.commonwealthgames.ca
(Photo 1: Rugby players (l t r) Harry Jones, Connor Braid and John Moonlight. Photo by Dan Galbraith
Photo 2: Members of the Canadian lawn bowling team model the Maple Leaf Tartan pants and hoodie)
