First look: Boston unveils inaugural ‘First Light’ primary uniforms ahead of 2026 NWSL season

As Boston Legacy FC’s first employee, Vanessa Bruce has been there through it all.

She was there when the club decided on its first name, the ill-fated BOS Nation, and its current one. She was there for their successful rebrand. She was overjoyed watching the Legacy’s freshman class report to preseason last month, a signal everything was finally coming together. For close to three years, Bruce, the club’s head of innovation and strategic projects, has worked tirelessly behind the scenes to help bring the club’s vision to life as professional women’s soccer returns to the Boston area.

On Friday, the club reached another milestone: unveiling its inaugural primary kit to the world.

“I’ve had the honor of getting to reveal it to a couple of key folks, including our staff and our players,” Bruce told The Athletic. “They’re going to be the first to wear these, and it makes it tangible. It makes it real. It’s one step closer to March 14, when we take the pitch for the first time.”

This kit – called “First Light” – features Boston Legacy’s color palette: stadium white, legacy green, pitch black and fireberry. The minimalistic uniforms are primarily covered in a bright shade of green with pink trim and black lining. They also feature the club’s crest, placed near the heart, above the T.J.Maxx front sponsor. The logo of two dancing bears and a soccer ball, with “26” inside, honors the team’s first season in NWSL. The bears represent the forgotten and historic bear enclosures in Franklin Park near White Stadium, a nod to their eventual home as well as Boston’s rich history.

The team will split its home games between Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., and the soccer-specific Centreville Bank Stadium in Rhode Island, before moving into White Stadium in 2027 after construction is complete.

“We’ve seen this jersey many, many times, and now to be able to reveal it is actually really a proud moment for us,” Stephanie Connaughton, one of the club’s founders, told The Athletic. “In so many ways, the jersey is the key way that fans get to say, ‘Hey, I’m part of this club.’ It’s the thing that connects the fans and the athletes, because they both can wear this kit.”

Bringing this kit to life spanned a two-year process with Nike. It started with the club sending the sports retailer its vision, ethos and color palette. The team wanted to stand out in the crowded Boston professional sports market, so the club leaned into honoring the city’s green landscapes. It reasoned that other clubs focused on a classic red, white and blue palette (NFL’s New England Patriots, MLS’s New England Revolution, MLB’s Boston Red Sox), the city’s maritime history (PWHL’s Boston Fleet) or a different shade of green (NBA’s Boston Celtics).

“The founders have always had the vision of building this for the community, being bold, building a 100-year legacy,” Bruce said. “That really weaves into how we briefed Nike for this two years ago. We didn’t have a name. We didn’t have a brand. We had the ethos of who we are, the city that we call home, and where we’re from.”

The kit, Bruce said, will “honor Boston sports’ legacy and make history of our own.”

The pop of green was “such a hit” with NWSL fans in the Boston area, Connaughton said, well before the team even had a name. The green is essentially the centerpiece of the club’s first kit. The club’s secondary and third kits will be revealed at the Cyclorama, operated by the Boston Center for the Arts, on Feb. 26.

“I think of that green as a metaphor for so many things. It is very modern, and it has a positive energy and a joyfulness to it — and when you see it, you can’t help but engage with that color,” Connaughton said.

“It has become the cornerstone of this jersey and of the brand in so many ways, appropriately, because it is a metaphor for how our fans think about women’s sports and the NWSL and women’s soccer, in particular — that positive vibe.”

The team’s green also stands out within the expanding NWSL, which features various shades of green already. Racing Louisville’s secondary kit features a “deep green hue.” Fellow expansion side Denver Summit FC also unveiled “forest green” in their branding, which they presented in July. Then there’s the Kansas City Current’s signature teal.

“We knew it was kind of a winner because it would stand out, and that’s really important for an expansion team,” Connaughton said. “We want to have an instant identity that is different and eye-catching, and, certainly, that green is.”

For Boston Legacy, unveiling their kit is an important step as the club inches closer to their inaugural season.

The team is already on the pitch. They played their first preseason scrimmage against the Washington Spirit in Bradenton, Fla., last week and are now in Spain, where they face the Chicago Stars on Saturday and a pair of European clubs over the following week.

The club opens its NWSL season March 14 at Gillette Stadium against the 2025 NWSL Champions, Gotham FC.

Bruce described the excitement and joy in the room when they first unveiled the new kits to the players. That’s when she began to picture that first match against Gotham.

“You can start to visualize the players taking the pitch and playing in these kits. You can start to visualize the fans who are showing up in the stands and wearing that crest on their chest and cheering their heart out,” Bruce said. “It just makes it more real, like you’re one step closer to being in that stadium, packing that stadium and growing the game.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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