HICO, W.Va. — Midland Trail’s football helmets look a little bit different this year – a salute to what the team calls the ‘real patriots,’ men and women of the United States military.
This year, the Patriots have the familiar M-T logo on one side of their helmet, while the other side features a decal representing the branches of the military.
Head coach Frank Isaacs said a few of his assistant coaches, some of which are retired military, approached him about the idea and they took it to the players.
“They thought it would be a great idea to have the kids pick when branch of military that they would like to represent,” Isaacs said. “We had a number of different branches that they wanted to do, so we decided to use all of them.”
The helmets feature decals from the Marine Corps, Army, Navy, Coast Guard, and Air Force.
“The military is something that we take pride in, in this area,” Isaacs said. “The community in this area, especially, is very supportive of the military and very supportive of Midland Trail football. I think we’re doing something that they can be proud of.”
Midland debuted the helmets on September 1 at Greenbrier West. Coach Isaacs said they intend to keep the military salute on the helmets from years to come.
– Greg White