As some teams around the USL Championship have put out alternate jerseys to celebrate and represent the communities they play for, on Sept. 9 the league announced that they would be releasing special jersey designs for 20 teams in what they’ve called the Culture Collection. USL Digital designers Angela Zanaglio, Sonjai Persuad, Jaime Austin, and Casey Brochhagen took inspiration from the cultures, histories, and local icons of the cities and regions that the teams represent, and they delivered some pretty impressive work. Fortunately for the readers of this site, Tacoma Defiance were one of the 20 teams chosen.

The jersey designed for Tacoma is definitely one of the better ones. The graphic above does a pretty good job of explaining the reasoning behind the details included in the jersey, so to that end I’ll just say that including “Defiance” on the chest of the jersey is kind of a stretch to say that you incorporated Point Defiance Park in your design and inspiration. That said, the design for the Tacoma Narrows Bridge — featured on both the front and back — is pretty sharp.

The illustration of the bridges isn’t the only thing this jersey has going for it, though. The color used isn’t one we’ve seen on either of Tacoma’s jerseys, but if you’ve been a fan of the Sounders for any amount of time it’s sure to be familiar. This particular shade of blue is very similar to the blue that has featured in one detail or another on at least one jersey every season for the Sounders since they entered MLS, featuring most prominently on their very first away jerseys. The green tape at the bottom of the jersey and on the sleeves is a nice touch, and I’m a fan of the collar style featured here. One other design element that I think is worth noting is the dot grid that covers the jersey, which lends a textured appearance as if the jersey were made of a waffle-knit fabric.

Unfortunately this jersey won’t be available for sale anywhere — at least that’s the plan currently — but if you try really hard and you get lucky the Tacoma Defiance could be one of the top-5 in the fan vote the league will be conducting Sept. 13-19, and you could be the fan chosen to receive one. In the meantime, take a look at the jerseys that have been released, and vote when the time comes. What do you think of the Tacoma jersey? Are there any other jerseys that you especially love or hate?