The Slovak Basketball Association (SBA) is looking to reach new heights with its new visual identity and national team uniforms.
The SBA released the identity and uniforms earlier this week, the culmination of a nine-month process. Both are guided by the new motto: “We Aim High” (“Mierime vysoko” in Slovak). “The campaign aims to give a fresh face to Slovak basketball,” the SBA says in a press release. “The ambition is to rank this globally popular sport among the most prominent topics on the domestic sports scene.”
The centerpiece of the new identity is a mark with an upward-pointing chevron with the word “BASKET” inside set in a custom font. Highlighted within the word are the letters SK, which is Slovakia’s two-letter country code.
“We tried to design the brand so that it would also work outside the basketball bubble. We believe that basketball has the potential to shape cities and attract a wide audience. It is not just a sport, but also a lifestyle with a strong culture,” explained Pavol Kyselica, who created the new brand and jerseys alongside fellow creative Matej Špánik.
“We tried to avoid traditional clichés such as the colour orange or the national tricolour. The visual point of the Slovak Basket brand is based on highlighting the letters SK in the word basket, which is carried through all the visuals.”
“We supported the visual with an upward arrow. In combination with the letters SK in the word basket, it points to Slovakia. This is in line with the main idea of aiming high,” Špánik added. “In terms of design, we wanted to work with the colour blue, as it keeps appearing in Slovak basketball throughout time, but also in other sports such as football and hockey. We wanted to give the design energy, a modern urban street character and a visual language that would give the players, but also the whole of Slovak basketball, confidence.”
Elements of the visual identity carry over into the new national team uniforms, which are made by Italian manufacturer Macron. Both the white and navy blue uniform sets feature the chevron on the chest with “SLOVAKIA” written out in the same custom font. Both also have light blue stripes down the sides of the jersey and the shorts.
The white jersey has navy blue trim on the collar and arm holes, as well as navy names and numbers. The navy blue set has light blue trim and white names and numbers.
“The new branding of Slovak basketball is not a one-off campaign. Its role is to have a long-term impact on the basketball community and the wider public. Through jerseys, merchandise, and visual communication, we want to reach all age groups — especially children and young people. I am excited about the launch of the new brand, with which we are aiming high.”
— Michal Ondruš, president, SBA
The Slovak men’s national team has never qualified for a FIBA World Cup nor an Olympic Games, and the country hasn’t qualified for a EuroBasket tournament since 2011. The women’s team placed second at the 1997 EuroBasket Women in Hungary and third at the 1993 tournament in Italy, but didn’t qualify for the most recent tournament in 2025. They qualified for the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, where they finished seventh.
The next action for Slovakia’s national basketball teams comes on Saturday, November 15, when the women’s team takes on Cyprus in a EuroBasket qualifying match.
