Adidas announced a multi-year partnership with Dr. Jen Welter, the first female NFL coach and newly named Defensive Specialist Coach for the Atlanta Legends in the Alliance of American Football (AAF).
Adidas and Coach Welter last week kicked off the first girls’ flag football camp in Atlanta, as part of a series that Adidas will co-host with Welter to serve underprivileged kids across the U.S. in 2019, including Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami and Dallas. As part of the partnership, Adidas and Welter will explore new ways to increase access to the sport for young girls, including utilizing the camps to secure digital data from female athletes to help inform the future creation of Adidas women’s products. In addition to coaching, mentoring, and teaching life skills at the flag football camps, Welter will play an integral role in brand initiatives and marketing campaigns.
“We believe that through sport, we have the power to change lives and as a brand we want everyone to have equal access to sport. We’re extremely excited to welcome Dr. Jen Welter to the Adidas family and partner with her to help inspire and empower girls to play football,” said Jeff McGillis, VP of U.S. sports at Adidas. “Our mission is to help athletes perform better, and this new partnership is a leap forward in our efforts to create products specifically designed for the elite performance of female athletes.”
“It’s been said, football is the final frontier for women in sports, and so I always believed through football we could change the world,” said Dr. Welter. “I consider myself a Creator on and off the field and this partnership with Adidas takes women and girls from the final frontier to the forefront of innovation, I am honored to join the Adidas family as we work towards equal footing in sports!”
To welcome Welter to the Adidas family, the 3-Stripes brand created the Adidas Made For Jen Welter (AM4JEN), the first women’s football cleat digitally created at SPEEDFACTORY USA in Atlanta, GA. In a direct collaboration with Welter, Adidas designers crafted one-of-one custom cleats that both represent her inspirational story and are tuned for her unique functional product needs.
Highlighting Welter’s accomplishments on and off the field, a graphic representing the barriers which she continues to break on a daily basis is fused with the colorways of her current team, “The Atlanta Legends.” Additional design details include Welter’s handwritten, motivational coaching phrases to “coach from within” emblazoned onto the sock liners and Welter’s signature and key dates commemorating times in both her playing and coaching career are laser-engraved on the rear quarter panel of the cleats.
Taking digital 3D scans of Welter’s foot, a personalized asymmetric “Patch Placement” of TPU support structures were configured to meet the specific needs of her individual movements. Data-driven and digitally produced, the AM4JEN incorporates an advanced four-way stretch mesh collar for a sock like fit and a Primeknit upper for maximum breathability and unparalleled comfort. The upper is powered by a SRPINTFRAME with strategically placed SPRINTSTUDS in a rotational traction zone that is engineered for lightweight, multi-directional speed, strength and unrivaled traction.
Image courtesy Adidas
