- Client
- Mental Health Classic
- Industry
- Youth sport, non-profit
- Scope
- Identity, jerseys, apparel, signage, social
- Year
- 2025 to 2026
- Location
- Saskatchewan
The problem
A tournament that sold out in year one, with a message worth carrying and no look to carry it.
What we built
The mark, four jersey colourways, volunteer apparel, signage and social. Redone every year.
Result
The story
The Mental Health Classic isn't just a hockey tournament. It's a weekend built to get kids talking, before they ever think it's too late.
D Jay McGrath and Mitch Berg of Optima Athletics had already built something special. A 3-on-3 tournament that sold out in its first year, with kids who loved it and parents who believed in it. What it didn't have was a look that matched what was happening on the ice.
The question sounded simple: how do you make a mental health event feel like hockey first? D Jay wasn't a mental health advocate. He was a hockey player who came back from the darkest place there is. The brand needed to carry that same honesty, and speak to a nine-year-old and a sponsor at the same time.
Before
AfterFrom practice jerseys to a program
In 2025, the Classic ran in generic practice jerseys. No logo, no signage, nothing to take home. The message was there, but nothing around it said this weekend mattered.
When an event looks thrown together, people treat it that way. Sponsors hesitate, parents skim past it, and the message gets quieter than it deserves.
One year later, every team had its own kit, every volunteer had a shirt, and every photo had the crest behind it.
A mark kids want to wear
The audience is kids. If the logo felt like a pamphlet from a doctor's office, nobody would wear it, and the message would stay in the room.
The shield stands for safety, because this weekend has to feel like a safe place to talk. The ribbon is for awareness. Green is the colour mental health is celebrated in, and in 2026 we added yellow, because Saskatchewan is green and yellow land.
Even the colour names carry the message: Grounded Strength, Fresh Perspective, Silver Lining and Clear Mind. It's okay, to not be okay.
Built for the room
A tournament like this lives or dies on how it feels when a kid walks into the dressing room. That moment needed to feel like the big leagues.
Four jersey colourways, one system. Every left shoulder left open for a team sponsor, so local businesses had an easy way in and every team got its own backer. Every back carries the STOP patch minor hockey requires. Safety is part of the uniform, not an afterthought.
Then the details. Toiletry bags and shaker bottles with the crest, waiting under every jersey on day one.
Everyone wears it
A brand only works if people actually use it. So the system stretched well past the players: volunteers in green, organizers in black, hats in the stands, signs on the ice and an Ice the Stigma wall for photos.
When the whole building matches, a community tournament starts to feel like a pro event. Parents notice. Kids notice. Sponsors notice most of all.
The look grew the room
A brand that looked as serious as the cause gave sponsors a reason to take it seriously too.
2026 sold out with 244 athletes and five times the sponsorship dollars of 2025. A new title sponsor came on board, along with Tim Hortons and Canadian Tire, and bigger guest speakers followed.
In 2027 the Classic expands to a second city. I've been on site for every tournament so far, and I'm signed on to build the website.
Close to home
My daughter played in 2026 and came home a hockey player through and through.
The whole tournament is built to put the fun back into youth hockey while it carries a serious message. Smiles for an entire weekend.
"We had the tournament. Jarrid gave it a look that made sponsors, parents and kids take it as seriously as we do."
D Jay McGrath, co-founder