Should FRC Team name = HS athletic team name?

FIRST General Forum
#21

We combined our school mascot, the “Trojan” with “Robotics” and got “Trobotics”.

And while we proudly stuck with the name, my advice would be that every possible combination of “…botics” and “Robo…” has been done to death.

However it is only people in FRC that know that… in your community linking the school mascot to something robotical will help people make connections with both the school and what you are doing.

But what I would suggest is that whatever name, colours and logos you choose… STICK WITH THEM. Your team will develop a reputation based on the character of the students, the quality of your robot, your presence in the pits and stands and your presentations to the judging panels.

Many judges and volunteers come back year after year… we get to know teams, probably better than you might expect, and that is almost always a positive. If you are going to change your image than make sure you have a good reason, follow a logical process, document the process and explain it to the judges.

Finally, whatever your team name is… find something that makes you unique. Our first ever FRC award was for our innovative use of plywood… so we built on that angle using plywood as key structural components of our robot every year. We won at least two more awards that cited our use of plywood, and when I retired from the team and joined the judging panel, I discovered that not just other teams… but many judges… would make a point of coming by our pit area to see what we had done with plywood this year.

As a Canadian team competing primarily in the states, we made hockey sticks a key component of our design. When I introduced myself to the other judges, they didn’t all know who Trobotics was, or who 1346 was… but they sure knew who the team in the red shirts and black pants with plywood and hockey sticks on their robot was. (It was the Canadians, eh?)

Choose whatever name you want… but don’t count on your name to make you stand out. It is the overall package that will establish your reputation.

Jason

#22

Our team is not associated with a single school. And the name is nothing like our schools. Monsters != Vikings, Warriors, or Knights

I know 548 (Robostangs) are associated with their mascot/school (Mustangs)

Waterford Mott Destroyers (WMD) is associated with their school

I can think of more that are not associated

#23

We’re the Aztecs but our team added an H to the end to get Aztechs…

#24

When our team started we opted more to tie in with our town/community of Windham, New Hampshire which is how we came to be The Windham Windup. We knew we didn’t want to directly use the school’s jaguar mascot in our name because of how many teams throw “robo” or some other tech word before their mascot. It wouldn’t be unique to us which is why we tied in elsewhere for the name but included the jaguar in our logo.

We also didn’t use the school’s colors of navy & gold but opted for close relatives in the color wheel of black & yellow. No one particularly liked the school’s colors and we knew we wanted to wear polo shirts for a more professional look however the shop that did our shirts also serviced the school so we would have had the same shirts all the athletic coaches wore which wouldn’t have gone over well. :slight_smile:

I personally think schools care more about colors and care less about the name. It has been mentioned to us but our colors are so close its not a big issue.

#25

1444 was originally associated with a high school whose mascot was the Lancer. So we decided upon the “Lightning Lancers” for our team name and used the same colors (black and gold). We have since left the school, but retained the name and colors. There has been some discussion of changing both, but there is a decent amount of “brand recognition” associated with our name/colors, so it doesn’t really make sense to change.

#26

Our team, 1108, is called “Panther Robotics”, our school mascot, but because “Panther” is probably the first or second most common team mascot, there are at least eight teams that are variations of panthers and robots. One is across town in our own metro area.

I’ve heard kids in the past be very disappointed with our name. Something more creative but still with ties to the school would be my recommendation.

#27

Team 230 has often been asked where we got our name, a.k.a. “What the heck is a gaelhawk?” The Gaelhawks name comes from a combination of the high school mascot, the Gael, and a well-known product from our originating and continuing primary sponsor Sikorsky Aircraft, the Black **Hawk **helicopter.

Gael + Hawk = GaelHawks!

I think the sponsor tie-in is a good one that is maybe not seen as often. We also use the school colors of orange and black. The combination of those colors and “Gael” as part of our name definitely help make us part of the school’s team community. Of course, our tshirt cannon at the pep rallies helps too. :smiley:

#28

Agree with your full post. I’m pretty sure we are the only AngelBots around, though. We chose to adapt our team name to our school mascot in 2009 so that we could help our students feel like they were part of the larger community, and help our school support our team. We have continued to “theme” each year differently, though, because we have so many artistic and theatrical students. We may eventually settle into our school colors and team uniforms when I get tired of the annual process.

#29

West Windsor-Plainsboro School District has two high schools, North and South.

Team 1923 was originally based out of North (The Knights). At the time, we were Royal Knights Robotics. Blue and grey, the exact same knight logo as the athletic department …we matched the school pretty well.

Fast forward a few years and we end up offering membership to students from South (The Pirates). We were told by the District we were not allowed to use either school’s colors, logos, or other branding - one, because that would ‘show favoritism’ and they wanted it to look like a unified team, and two, we had just moved to build outside of district property, and weren’t really affiliated with the schools anymore… so we changed up the look.

The MidKnight Inventors are black and silver, with their own logo - we keep the K in there as nod to our roots - and their own branding package for fonts, alternative colors, etc. that keeps it neutral between the two schools. As a result, students from both high schools are proud to wear their team gear around town.

With such a large team now (and MidKnight Minions, Mini’s etc. through younger programs) the logo’s become recognizable in our area. I was in line at a coffee shop in my team hoodie, and a woman said “Oh, my friend’s son is on that team! What part of the robot do you work on?” **Wow. **That’s the dream right there, isn’t it? (Not the part where she thought I was a high schooler, but you get my drift.)

TL;DR: Branding with the school is great if you’re the only school involved, but having your own identity can really help.

#30

Personally, I like having a distinct theme apart from the other organizations at our school. Cinco Ranch is pretty big, fielding a little under 4000 students, so there are a ridiculous amount of student clubs and organizations. Our colors are maroon and white with the cougar for mascot, so it seems like band, orchestra, choir, academic decathlon, all the athletics - they all have maroon and white shirts.

So when you see a black/neon green shirt in the crowd, it’s almost instantly recognizable :slight_smile:

#31

That’s if you missed the neon green hair…

#32

John,
WildStang is a combination of the original two schools that began our long history. The Wheeling Wildcats and the Rolling Meadows MuStangs. We now accept students from any district 214 school and home schoolers in our district. Long live the tie dye!

#33

I’m from the Windham Windup from Windham NH, despite the school’s athletic name being the Windham Jaguars. The boosters club does not financially support us, so we felt no pressure in having the same name. We have a different logo too, but it keeps the Jaguar in it, helping with team and town identity. We keep the high school logo on the robot on the sponsors panel because we are associated with them, and they do help us fund our trips.

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#34

Our team name uses a sponsor tie-in too. Because we aren’t associated with a single high school, our name is derived from the mascot used by our primary supporter, the University of Virginia. We also use their colors, blue and orange.

#35

Our school athletic team name is Bears. There are teams already using that name in FRC (hi 247!) and our students didn’t like the variant that was suggested: RoBears. I can’t fault them for that.

They chose to be called Average Joes before I even showed up for a meeting. I liked it then and I like it now. :]

Especially when the results are above average!

#36

We are RUNNYMEDE ROBOTICS.

The school is Runnymede Collegiate.

We’re creative. :wink:

#37

We’re Shaker Robotics, from Shaker High School. Our mascot is the blue bison, which is the same as Shaker High’s athletic mascot. I guess our logo is cooler though.

We tried to think of anything better and less boring our first two seasons. We couldn’t. We were almost “Terminal Velocity” once…

#38

Our high school mascot is the Marauders, so we stuck something technical in front that wasn’t robo- or -otics and turned into the Mechanical Marauders. Though we share a name, we developed a gearlike marauder head (the “gearhead”) and use black and yellow as our colors, not the maroon and white that is in my profile pic. It helps us tie into the school and the community, and also lets us make a lasting impression and retain our own identity.

Side note: making your shirts black means that any pit grease/grime/dirt doesn’t show up as easily at competition, and helps to maintain a clean uniform look, though tie dye and other colors certainly do pop.

#39

Though, your team is at least named after your town.

#40

Before using a high school team name for your frc name, do a quick search on blue alliance and make sure there aren’t other teams with that same name.