The club lacrosse scene in Florida is one of the largest in the country. With so many major universities within the state, it makes sense to see so many MCLA programs scattered throughout the Sunshine State. Most of these programs have phenomenal branding assets, colors, and logos at their disposable thanks to a phenomenal brand image from their respective universities. You would think it would be easy to design jerseys and build that team “swagger” with so many resources right? You can have all of the pieces to the puzzle but still not be able to make it fit together.
The Varsity Club Lacrosse guys are starting a new series where they rank the best MCLA jerseys in each state. It makes perfect sense to start with Florida lacrosse as the Sunshine State is home of many MCLA programs who deserve the recognition for their gear and swagger.
MCLA Florida Lacrosse Swag Rankings
Honorable Mention: Florida Poly
Disqualified for not sending me pictures because they had to ask their marketing department? But they were rocking CPXRs and their uniforms were pretty bad so their school was actually doing them a favor.
8) University of North Florida
The matte navy helmets are really nice. Good to get away from the all-white shell/facemask combo. The all-white uniforms are clean too. It feels like someone at UNF has been watching a lot of Penn State games.
Side note, all white helmets with white facemasks look cool now, but in a few years it will take the place of the standard white shell with silver mask combo that you can buy in any store. But it looks cool for now.
7) Florida Gulf Coast
Really love the turquoise and blue combination. Helmet is a little plain, but the jerseys have sleeves and a very clean design so that’s a plus. They also have a campus right on the beach so don’t let the rankings impact your view of the school. They have nice uniforms that deserve the love but fall at the No.7 spot due to some tough in-state competition.
6) University of South Florida
It was tough for me to put the Bulls in the lower half of the rankings because they didn’t do anything wrong. Love the green facemasks and the all white uniforms are clean and simple, no lost points there.
Hard for me to work in hypotheticals, but I have to imagine that these uniforms will look cooler when the color of their grass field actually matches the color of their uniforms, but that’s an external factor and out of their control and a staple of Florida lacrosse . Bonus points for the top right picture, #7 looks so happy to be playing and #5 has the ideal short length.
5) University of Central Florida
Not many teams can get away with the old-style lettering, but when your name is the Knights, I think it’s actually a requirement. There’s a chance they are still waiting on gloves to arrive, but the lack of matching gloves didn’t help their ranking, but I do always appreciate a sideways peace sign.
Hard for me to give a low ranking to a school that has the same exact colors and helmets as my alma mater (Boiler Up!). So yeah, these rankings are definitely biased.
4) Florida Atlantic
At first the only recent picture I could find of FAU was when they played UNF, so for convenience’s sake they were going to share a paragraph. They won that game 18-3 so that felt a little disrespectful. Luckily for the Owls they came in clutch and sent us some more pics at the last minute.
They definitely got bonus points for the palm trees in the background. You may be wondering what that has to do with their uniforms, and that’s definitely a fair question. Anyways, the blue porthole mesh jerseys are top tier and the red chin on the helmet is a nice touch.
3) Miami
This may be my most controversial rating. Miami was originally going to be lower on this list because I’m old school and believe that all jerseys need sleeves. Then they put out the pictures of their helmet with the visor. That was a game changer. The visor probably won’t be worn in games, but I’m easily influenced by cool pictures and this gave me early 2000s Sean Taylor (RIP) vibes. Gloves are also sweet and the throwback logo is awesome.
2) Florida
If I believed in ties, then I might have put the Gators tied at No.1 with their in-state rival. It was a really tough decision to make, especially because the new Cascade XRS helmets they’re rocking might be one the best helmets in the country. Tough decisions had to be made, and Florida gets the No.2 ranking.
1) Florida State
When ranking uniforms, I hate to say it but presentation matters, a lot. Professional pictures taken on campus in front of a statue will always look cooler than pictures from a game, but Florida State didn’t need to do that for my No.1 MCLA uniform ranking in the state of Florida.
First, we want to highlight that the blue uniforms are to celebrate Native American culture and FSU’s relationship with the Seminole Tribe of Florida. The Gold Chrome Cascade helmets will always be a hit. The script letters, sleeve, and shorts stripes are simple but separate them from the crowd. Take notes, NCAA teams.
