Individual project | Summer 2021 | #Sports&Fitness #BrandExtension
Like any sport, lacrosse is no stranger to athletes sporting signature equipment lines. Current and former professional players like Paul Rabil, Rob Pannell, and Kyle Harrison have all had their own signature lacrosse heads with various companies over the past two decades.
Despite being considered among the greatest offensive players to ever live while still a current professional player, Cannons LC’s attackman Lyle Thompson has never had his own signature line of equipment. Currently a Nike athlete, Lyle’s peers include Odell Beckham Jr., Mike Trout, and Kyrie Irving, who all have their own signature lines.
Brief: Design a signature lacrosse head for Lyle Thompson as an extension of the Nike Lacrosse brand.
Hailing from the Onondaga Nation, Lyle’s Haudenosaunee heritage is extremely important to him. In collaboration with Nike N7, he helped design a Nike Dunk sneaker with a Haudenosaunee wampum belt pattern on the midfoot.
His traditional name, Deyhahsanoondey, means “he is flying over us.” Lyle’s spirit animal is the eagle, which shows in his athleticism as he flies past defenders and dives past goalies.
Lyle’s signature shot, the backhand, has transformed the game of lacrosse in the same way that Steph Curry’s three point range has changed basketball. Reaching around defenders and goalies, Lyle needs a head that has the length to reach the smallest of windows.
