Vans Celebrates Cool People Soccer Team

Sports clubs are typically well-baby-oiled machismo machines. 'Jock' has become the slur that sensitive creatives have nightmares about being branded, but there are dudes out there who love sport but don't have a carnal desire to shower naked with other men and partake in antiquated initiation activities. And those folks have found a home in a few special soccer clubs in North America, including NYC's Chinatown FC, Vancouver's Gastown FC and Montréal's the Ringleaders F.C. Forming independently, these clubs are typically made up of friends of friends from creative fields, and they've even traveled to play each other in the past. Other than the carnival get-togethers, the teams keep their skills up by playing weekly in a local league of their city or holding regular intra-club games. Angelo Destonis, co-owner of OTH started the Ringleaders in 2006 and now they've got around 50 members, a sick playing kit and their own casual shoe. Yep, their soccer swag has been recognised by Vans Vault, as evidenced by this very clean white and blue velcro-strapped sneak. Peep the 'R.F.C. Prison Issue' in the gallery above, along with shots of the team going hard. The R.F.C. collaboration will be released at  OTH exclusively and online on October 4th. A hoodie, a pin, and a T-shirt with the new Ringleaders branding will also be available in very limited quantities.