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No two are the same.
A burgundy and blue-masked luchador. A homage to the 1994 USMNT denim kits. Rapid Man looking dapper in his best Lando Calrissian cosplay. A beautiful snowcapped mountain scene underscored by Japanese characters. Rapid Man as, uh, Rapid Grandma (?) and Rapid Man Jr. (?) posing for a family portrait.
Each design is one of a kind among the 17+ handcrafted rowing oars handed out to each Man of the Match at Colorado Rapids home games every season.
Oar-igin story
The tradition began in 2013, when members of Centennial 38, a Rapids supporters’ group, found an old three-foot oar at a craft store. The oar got painted, brought to a Rapids tailgate and noted by club staff. At first, the oar took a spot as a decoration in Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, but, eventually, it became a trophy. Now, each match gets its own hand-painted, fan-designed oar and each Rapid that wins Man of the Match a wholly unique prize to take home.
“It was something special, something different,” Rapids midfielder and multiple oar owner Cole Bassett said. “I think when you look overseas, people normally get the typical Man of the Match award, and this is something different that I think you cherish. And the unique thing about it is, every single game, it's a completely different oar.
"So I think they take their time and think about certain ideas and certain games that they want to make it a special theme. Then, when you look back on them, when you have them in your house, you get to remember a game for what they put on the oar or maybe what the night was about.”
Community connection
Each oar is sanded down and then distributed to that game’s artist to do pretty much whatever they want with it. Paint, ink, tape, whatever they want to use for their personal design is all fair game. On match day, it journeys from tailgate to pre-match player walkout, to the supporters’ section and then back into the hands of a player. That moment post-match, where the player walks over to the supporters to receive their prize, offers a chance for the community to be face-to-face with the team’s stars.
"Each one of our oars is designed and made by someone in the club and it's really a projection of that emotion, that commitment and dedication to the club," Centennial 38 member Trevor Curry said. "You can go to a game, you can cheer and you can chant and the guys hear, but I think it's more of a physical personification of wanting to do something for the club, wanting to give a little piece of yourself, give your time and effort to make the oar.
"It's just, it's a really good feeling to see the player appreciate it and see it and like it. I think that's what kind of sets it apart."
If you ask the team, that connection matters on the field. The oar itself is an enticing incentive, sure — Who wouldn’t want a lovingly crafted depiction of Rapid Man to hang on the wall? — But it’s also an opportunity to build on the relationships that make playing for the club meaningful.
"It just provides a moment at the end of the game to go over and connect with the fans and talk to some of them," Bassett said. “There's been a few times where there's been young kids in the stands right there that they bring over, and they'll have a sign that they want a jersey. It's kind of a time to go say hi. You grab the oar, and maybe you can connect with a few people and touch their lives in a different way that maybe you wouldn't if we didn't have this tradition.
"Like if it was just Europe and you got handed it by your, you know, your comms team, it might feel a little different compared to getting to go over and connect with the fans."
Giving everything for the fans
When head coach Chris Armas arrived in Colorado a couple of years ago, he met with Rapids fans at a local pub. They told Armas they wanted a team that acknowledges the fans, plays for the fans and doesn’t quit on the fans. Armas promised to ensure those standards were met. In part because it’s the right thing to do as a club and in part because, as a coach, he recognizes the effects of a mutually beneficial relationship.
"I said, ‘Okay, that's the easy part.’ I said, ‘There won't ever be a team that I put out there that will not, home and away, acknowledge you guys.’ And I constantly give the team reminders of why we do this,” Armas said.
"At home, we feel invincible, and we take the energy. Of course, we give it, but we're selfish in that moment during games when there's fatigue and there's some stress. The fans - they let you know what they want. What the demands are. They start making noise, and it's energetic.
"And I remind our players that a tackle, a moment of an interception or winning a duel, or even a recovery run, they appreciate this. They're knowledgeable. They're knowledgeable in football. They're knowledgeable in our style of play. And then they give that to the players and that is palpable."
Oars for all
The first team aren’t the only ones who get that energy and receive post-match oars. When the Rapids’ Unified Team took the field earlier this year, the fans waited out a rain delay to cheer them on and to deliver personalized hand-designed oars to each member of the team.
Colorado supporters have at least eight more oars to sand, craft and pass out this season. Whether it’s after at least eight more wins or not isn’t clear. But each one will be a reminder for whoever gets to take it home that they aren’t alone in celebrating or reeling from a result.
“It's a unique connection,” Bassett said. “I think we have something that's kind of in the middle, that is a symbol for the club and the players and the fans. It kind of connects both of us.”
