When the West Virginia University football team takes the field on Saturday night against nationally-ranked Iowa State they’ll don the new “Coal Rush” uniform. Our players will be accompanied onto the field by miners from Arch Resources’ Leer Mining Complex in Grafton where the Coal Rush concept was derived.
The Coal Rush uniform was designed to pay tribute to the work ethic and bravery of the West Virginia coal miner and celebrate our state’s coal industry.
In announcing the design back in May, WVU Vice President and Director of Athletics Wren Baker said, “If our football team was going to have a black alternate uniform, we wanted it to tell a story and mean something to our fans. Coal mining has a deep history in West Virginia, and the work ethic of coal miners is woven into the fabric of our culture. Our football team looks forward to honoring the rich tradition and history of West Virginia’s coal mining industry…”
The uniforms were released with the slogans ‘West Virginia Mined”and ‘Built on Bravery’ in recognition of the working life of a miner and symbolizing the characteristics imbued in all Mountaineers.
The Coal Rush uniform joins other mining-related traditions and symbolism at Milan Puskar Stadium and the University itself, ranging from the “Mountaineer Mantrip” player-walk into the stadium, the piece of coal touched by each player as they enter, and the buildings on campus bearing the names of coal industry stalwarts.
For generations miners have gone to work each day to provide the energy and steel America needs to run our economy and build our great country. Coal mining and coal miners have defined West Virginia culturally and societally throughout our history and we will continue to make substantial contributions into the future.
As an industry, we are appreciative of this acknowledgement of coal’s role in shaping our state and people, and we thank West Virginia University for this unique recognition. Let’s Go Mountaineers!
