Colorado Rapids Launch River Themed Colorado Water Trust Headwaters Kit

COMMERCE CITY – “We sat down and everyone went ‘It’s time for Rapids.'” Two years ago, Jordan Rothrock sat down with his team to discuss the plans for the Colorado Rapids 2025 secondary kit. The Creative & Brand Senior Director had heard a general theme amongst the fan base. As Duane Brown from DNVR would say regularly, “the club does a great job at the Colorado part. They could do a better job at the Rapids part. We’re not Colorado Rocky Mountains FC.”

Today the club launched the Headwaters Kit. It will be their secondary kit for 2025 and 2026. Partnering with homegrown nonprofit Colorado Water Trust, who work with water rights holders in the Centennial State to better the health of rivers and river communities.

The Design Itself: Similarities, Easter Eggs, Drippin

As you can see from the pictures, there’s more details than what Footy Headlines leaked, at least the first time. The shirt is mainly mint green, just like the Class 5 kit from 2021-22. There’s darker line work that looks like mountains at the chest and waves lower down the shirt. Internally, club staff are calling the colors mint and “arctic night onyx.” Exquisite.

“We sat down and everyone went ‘it’s time for Rapids.’ I 100% agree we have needed to go full in on THE RAPIDS. Having the name sake and the narrative, it will be a breath of fresh air. People will really get it. You’ll see a lot more water integrated. The campaign this year is water themed, not just outdoor themed,” Rothrock told Burgundy Wave.

If you look closely, you can see a watermark of the club’s primary crest. The mountain tips are at the top. You can faintly see “COLORADO” and “RAPIDS” below the UCHealth logo. That’s a nice touch that was actually a suggestion from the Adidas designer.

This is the first kit that has an alternate crest, with the Colorado flag-like badge. Apparently there’s a rule that Adidas doesn’t let you do that unless you’ve been with them for 5-10 years. A few other MLS teams have done this and crushed it; it’s about the Pids did something similar. The Rapids Community loves the Colorado flag. This is a fun detail.

Elsewhere, the jock tag has two crossed oars, a nod to the Centennial 38 Supporters Group’s MOTM tradition. It’s another nice detail but not something that is or will be the main theme of a kit.

“The jersey process is two years with Adidas. 2023 I sat down with them (C39 stakeholders). C38 owns the oars. We don’t want to take their property and make it this grand thing that’s not theirs. They made a couple tweaks. We haven’t gone down the route of a fan created jersey but we’ve talked about it.”

The back of the neck has the only Burgundy on the whole outfit. It includes the waves graphic the club teased a few days ago. Burgundy Sky has said it looks like bacon. The shorts will be mostly mint but have some of the water decal down the sides. The socks are mint as well.

From a distance, it looks like a light green kit. Fans of other teams might not be able to tell the difference from the Class 5 14ers kit and that’s ok. As a kit fashion snob, I like the Easter Eggs. It could have used more contrast in the colors. It looks way better up close and person than it will on the wide shot on Apple TV. That’s ok took. It’s not the plain shirt every expansion team gets. They could have had some fun thematic puns.

Drippin or Trippin? I say Drippin.

The Story Behind It: Colorado Water Trust

Give me a plain white training top and if it solves homelessness in Denver County, I’ll love it. The message and club outreach programs associated with the kit matter. This year marks a trend for the Rapids: Home kits are local community outreach and secondary kits are for state-wide outdoorsy stuff.

“There’s very much a thread through what we’re trying to create. Colorado is already an internationally known brand. A state people fly to from all over the world. We are one of two teams that have the state (Colorado) instead of the city (Denver) in our name. We’re trying to tie to what the state has to offer. We represent the whole state. The outdoor culture is next to none,” Rothrock said.

Early on in the process, the club reached out to Colorado Water Trust’s Development & Engagement Manager, Barrett Donovan. “Hopefully the club found out through word of mouth,” she told Burgundy Wave.

Colorado Water Trust were founded in Colorado in 2001. They work to find stakeholders (individuals, municipalities, Tribes, etc.) who have water rights and want to use them for good. They then do the legal work (Colorado water rights are complicated) to see what can be done and how. They then make it happen. They’re not necessarily an educational organization.

For example, they had a project on the Yampa River. The Yampa flows through Steamboat Springs and riparian activities are a big part of the summer economy. During hot summers/drought conditions, the water level in the river gets low and the water gets hot. Fishing, rafting, etc. becomes harder. In some cases, there’s bans so visitors don’t add to the stress on the fish, vegetation, etc. Some stakeholders with water rights partnered with Colorado Water Trust to have water they owned stored at the Stagecoach Reservoir released into the river. It had environmental, ecological, and economic benefits. This project kept the Yampa River ‘open’ for about a month longer.

They call this their “Request For Water” process. Get the word out. Have people with water rights come to them to be partners in good faith. See if the situation is feasible and what the benefits are to a certain river getting more water at a certain point and at what time of year.

As someone with a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Engineering with an emphasis in Water Resources, hell yeah.

They’ve had some of their best success through word of mouth. The club having a kit launch associated with Colorado Water Trust will help out with that. The club announced today they’ve donated $15,000 to the nonprofit to help their existing projects. There have been discussions to coordinate educational events, a few river clean ups, and other activations through the year.

“The hope would be for people to know we’re out there. There are ways for people who own water rights to use those water rights for the benefit of the environment,” Barrett added.

“Whiskey’s for drinking. Water’s for fighting. We’re not fighting with our projects. We’re bringing people together.”

Photo Credit: Colorado Rapids

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