Coyotes’ Graphic Designer Creates Jerseys to Celebrate Inspiring Women Night

The Arizona Coyotes and the Arizona Coyotes Foundation pride themselves on elevating diverse voices throughout the year, but the team’s upcoming game against the Nashville Predators will be even more meaningful than usual.

On Thursday, the team is featuring one of its own.

Arizona is set to celebrate Inspiring Women Night at Mullett Arena on March 28, and leaders throughout the community will be highlighted for their accomplishments and contributions to society. Perhaps most prominent, the Foundation will raise funds by auctioning off jerseys designed by Coyotes graphic designer Skylar Eades – highlighting the talent and dedication of a staff member that has been with the organization for almost two years.

Fans can already bid on the jerseys, which will be worn by players as they walk into the arena on Thursday, and funds raised will be used by the Arizona Coyotes Foundation to support education, health and wellness, and economic advancement for underserved and diverse communities – their three main pillars of service.

“The Arizona Coyotes are proud to highlight our colleagues and community members during Inspiring Women Night, especially during March, which is Women’s History Month,” said Coyotes President and CEO Xavier A. Gutierrez. “The ability to also feature one of our own incredible designers, Skylar Eades, is something that’s truly special because it elevates the work of a local aspiring artist whose inspiration and creativity is already on display with the Coyotes on a daily basis.”

Eades’ design features the desert landscape, highlighted by the Arizona state flower, the Saguaro Cactus Blossom.

“It’s symbolic of inspiring women because it perseveres throughout the harsh environment of the desert landscape, and blooms every spring despite the weather and heat,” Eades said. “So I took that concept and established my design around it.”

She said she chose a design that spoke to her as a woman, and stayed true to herself throughout the design process.

“The bright boldness reflects in my personality,” she said. “I feel like this design speaks towards me individually.”

Eades joined the Coyotes in the fall of 2022 after studying art at the University of Wyoming. Her passion for sports design happened organically after she started working for the athletic department, and has been hooked on it ever since.

“I was enamored by sports design after that, and I knew it was something I wanted to pursue,” she said. “I love sports design because I think it’s so amazing how you can tell the story.”

The Coyotes feature one of the most diverse front offices in all of the NHL, and Nadia Rivera, the Coyotes’ Chief Impact Officer and Executive Director of Foundation and Community Impact, said it’s important to her and the organization to consistently elevate diverse voices on a consistent basis.

Though it may be the norm in the Coyotes’ front office, there is still ground to be made up not just in sports, but in society as a whole.

“What we know to be true about diversity and people in leadership positions is that representation matters,” Rivera said. “Representation matters at the highest levels of the organization because we tend to bring others along with us.

“That is a testament to our leadership.”

Austin Lewter, the Coyotes’ Manager of Creative Services, said it was a no-brainer to hire Eades when she applied for the position a few years ago. Her talent, dedication, and overall commitment to excellence stood out immediately, and it’s been on display for both colleagues and fans to witness ever since.

Seeing her design on the hockey sweaters has a little more meaning this time around, because it’s a member of “The Pack” who spent tireless nights on the design – working up until the deadline to ensure perfection – and the end result is something that will be seen in the stands for years to come.

“She really brought this life, and as a manager, getting to see that was very special. I’m so proud,” Lewter said. “She stayed true to herself, which is very important. She’ll always look back at this and be proud of it, no matter where her career takes her in the future.”

Eades said being part of the Coyotes’ talented graphic design team, which includes Lewter, Millard Thomas, and Tyler Wollenburg, is something that makes her job that much more meaningful.

“My team is my family,” Eades said. “We’re so supportive of one another, and they’re all so talented. The work that they do is inspiring to me, and it makes me a better designer every day to work alongside them.”

Rivera said featuring an artist within the team has added another special element to Thursday's celebration.

“Since we’ve been doing the artist’s designs, we’ve focused on external artists in the community, and it’s been very focused on local artists with diverse backgrounds,” she said. “To be able to highlight one of our own is incredibly exciting.”

Gutierrez agreed.

“Skylar is both extremely talented and dedicated, and we are so excited for everyone to see the jerseys that she has designed for this incredible night,” he said. “While we don’t limit our celebration of our female colleagues and community members to March alone, this presents an opportunity to leverage the power of sports to highlight their unending effort, and the ability to do so strikes at the core of who we are as an organization.”

For Eades, the experience is one she said she’ll never forget, but the process of designing the hockey sweaters is also another opportunity in which she has excelled through hard work and perseverance.

The anticipation of seeing that effort pay off is exciting, and Inspiring Women Night at Mullett Arena will be forever etched in her memory.

“I have worked so hard to get to this moment, I can’t wrap my head around it,” Eades said. “It will be so amazing, and I will just be in shock.

“It’s exciting, and I’m just so blessed.”