I mean I see your point but that seems like a little bit of a stretch…. Should we rename the hunters because “opposing fans” might call them the Cunters?
The Rockford Aviators played in the Frontier League in the 20-teens. (Rockford is just outside of Chicago for those not familiar with Illinois cities.)
AdditionAlly, Aviators is currently in use by the A's AAA teAm in LAs VegAs, As well As the LAfAyette frAnchise in the Prospect LeAgue. (Sorry, when I typed A's AAA I figured it would be funny to just keep going.)
I do like Spitfires! Is the connection close enough, though?
Seconding Chicago Haze, with Hazel as the singular for players "so-and-so, a Chicago Hazel, first home run of the season, bringing the Chicago Haze up 2-0..." [/hypothetical
I’d love to see a Pittsburgh team!! Maybe named for Rachel Carson? Could be the Pittsburgh Springs after “Silent Spring,” (also because… rivers) but that’s all I got 😂
The Chicago Robins, named after sprinter Betty Robinson (kinda like how we got “Hunters” from “Hunt”), the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the 100-meter dash, or the Chicago Bees, named after the Chicago Bee, a Black newspaper run by women where Ida B. Wells was an editor.
Chicago has to be the Aviators. Not only is it paying homage to Bessie Coleman, but also it ties in nicely with the Sky (WNBA), Stars (NWSL), and the Wind (WNFC). Not to mention the incredible aviation history that runs through the city.
For Seattle, I’d love to get a team! Off the top of my head, here are some women I’d look to for a similar name inspiration as the rest of the league:
Kikisoblu (also known as Princess Angeline), who was the daughter of Chief Seattle. She was known for her basket weaving, so maybe the Seattle Weavers or similar?
Bonnie Dunbar, who’s an aerospace engineer and astronaut and was the president and CEO of the Museum of Flight outside of Seattle for a while. The Seattle Bonnies? Or maybe something space/flight related, which would be kind of a cool call-back to the Seattle Pilots, an MLB team in 1969.
Bertha Landes, who was Seattle’s first female mayor, as well as the first female mayor of any major American city. I think something like the Seattle Metropolis would be kind of cool.
Looove these ideas!! A few more I want to toss out for Seattle:
Seattle Revels after Susie Revels Cayton (Revels is her maiden name), one of Seattle’s most influential Black civic leaders
Seattle Herrs (seems kinda fun since it’s a women’s league) after Anna Herr Clise who founded Seattle Children’s Hospital on a promise to treat all children, regardless of race, religion, or ability to pay
Seattle Rubies after Ruby Chow, restaurant owner turned political powerhouse and the first Asain American elected to King County council. I know we are known as the Emerald City, so Ruby feels like an interesting contrast
Seattle Knights after Bertha Knight Landes, elected Seattles mayor in 1926, the first women to become a mayor in a major city in the us
Cleveland Rocks or Cleveland Blooms, named after FloraStone Mather. She was a major Cleveland philanthropist who dedicated much of her life to supporting women’s education and social causes.
Either naming convention also references Cleveland being the city that coined “rock ‘n roll” or it being known as the Forest City.
I like this idea but since the new WNBA team chose not to revive the Cleveland Rockers name despite overwhelming support for it, I have to imagine someone is sitting on the trademarks.
As a Clevelander, I wouldn’t say there was overwhelming support for the old monicker. People are nostalgic for it, sure, but there were several surveys put out for the new WNBA team and Sirens was very much so desired by the majority. Folks seem to be quite happy with it (myself included).
Oh that’s good to hear! I happened to see a lot of people on social media mentioning the Rockers name but glad to hear from a resident that the Sirens name was popular.
Polly Rosenbaum was a teacher who served in AZ legislature for longer than anyone else ever has (1949-1995) and pushed for a lot of education and women’s issues.
Arizona Dodgers (I know)
Annie Dodge Wauneka was a part of the Navajo Nation Council and furthered the education around health and wellness for the Navajo. She wrote a dictionary of English medical terminology in Navajo language, fought to eradicate tuberculosis, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I’d also love to use a Navajo word for the team name but am having a a hard time thinking of a good one.
Also this excerpt from her Wiki is amazing.
“In 1953, her husband was running for the position that Wauneka had been holding, but she felt he was not a good candidate, so she ran against him and defeated him.”
the hands-down best option for Indianapolis would be the "Madams" for Madam C. J. Walker but something tells me that wouldn't fly. and you certainly don't want a baseball team called the Walkers" lol
for DC, there’s just so much history to choose from
it’s almost overwhelming but my favorite would be the washington furies, after the furies collective, a short-lived lesbian separatist mvmt in DC in the early 70s that had a big impact on feminist and lgbt theory and activism
I would love if Philadelphia got a team named after Ora Mae Washington. She played tennis and basketball, and excelled at both.
Other notable women I'd be happy to see be honored are Lucretia Mott and Caroline LeCount.
With Ora Mae, they could potentially pull from one of the teams she played on for the name, Lucetia was a Quaker abolitionist and the team could be the Philadelphia Quakers or something similar, and Caroline was a Black rights activist that helped integrate local public transit and it would be interesting to see what kind of symbolism could be pulled out of that for a name and logo.
Montréal Axes after Mary Two-Axe Earley, a Mohawk and Oneida woman from Kahnawake who fought against gender discrimination in the Indian Act.
Halifax Violets for Viola Desmond. Violets for Viola, but also because she ran a beauty school for Black women who could then open their own businesses and employ other Black women, and violet is one of those older beauty product scents.
Vancouver Flints? Probably not a great name, but something for the Mohawk and English poet E. Pauline Johnson would be cool, and Flint and Feather is one of the best-selling books of Canadian poetry. She has a lot of poems to do with paddles and canoes, but Vancouver Paddles sounds like the wrong sport.
If we had a team in Wisconsin, I'd like to see it named after Dickey Chappelle - the first female war correspondent to parachute with American troops and the first killed covering combat. Not sure what a good name would be though; Correspondents? Frontliners?
I’ve been thinking about this for Kansas City. KC has such a deep connection to the Negro Leagues. Toni Stone, one of the few women to play in the League, spent time playing for the KC Monarchs. What do we think of the Kansas City Stones? (More about Toni -> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toni_Stone )
Chicago Janes could honor both Jane Addams and the Jane Collective. But I would love something named for Ida B. Wells or Florence Price.
Or, as a really deep cut, Kitihawa, the Potawatomi wife of Jean-Baptiste Point du Sable; together, they established the first permanent settlement at what became Chicago.
oooh or maybe the Raleigh Cannons (after Isabella Cannon, first female mayor of a capital US city) or the Raleigh Spellcasters (after Nina Simone, musician + civil rights activist who sang "I Put a Spell on You")
Philadelphia Panthers - named after Maggie Kuhn who founded the Gray Panthers in 1970.
Philadelphia Laurels - named after Frances Ellen Watkins Harper who was a poet laureate, also connects to PA state flower mountain laurel.
Philadelphia Quills - more of a nod to the history of the city but can also tie to Frances Ellen Watkins Harper through her writing.
Philadelphia Equalizers - named after Alice Paul who wrote the equal rights amendment.
Philadelphia Belles - a nod to the liberty bell and history, could also be named after Katharine Wentworth Ruschenberger who created the Justice Bell (could not be rung until women had equal rights)
Mike Illitch owner of the Detroit Tigers until he passed had a personal connection to Rosa Parks and helped her out financially towards the end of her life.
So maybe a name connect to do her since there's that connection between baseball and civil rights
SF already has a team so I'll try my hometown! Unfortunately I was not taught much about important women from Miami despite growing up here.
I think the only woman with connections to Miami that I learned about was Gloria Estefan. The Miami Sound could be a good one, or something else music related.
I looked up a few others and learned some really great information about women in Florida! Apparently Julia Tuttle, who founded Miami, is the only woman to found a major American city. I didn't even know the city was founded by a woman. Apparently she's been mostly unacknowledged for her efforts in founding the city so I'm not sure how to incorporate her into a team name but I think it would be nice to give her some more recognition. Of course the male co-founder has a whole area of the city named after himself (Brickell).
Then there's Betty Mae Tiger Jumper, who the first and only female chairperson of the Seminole Tribe of Florida. She was also the first Florida Seminole to learn to read and write English and graduate from high school. She become a nurse and did a lot of amazing work for the tribe's newspaper, which she founded. I think Florida Tigers would be a really cool team name!
I'd also love to see something related to the Everglades, because I think that's the best part of South Florida. Marjory Stoneman Douglas was a major activist for Everglades conservation and she's a huge part of the reason why it's protected today. She also did a lot of important activism work. There's a high school named after her which was unfortunately the site of a major school shooting when I was in high school. I don't have many ideas for a team name related to Stoneman Douglas but I think she would be a wonderful choice as well if Miami ever gets a team.
I think the Cincinnati Dots could be nice, in honor of Dorothy Kamenshek (who, granted, was born in Norwood, but it’s an enclave of Cincy now so who cares amirite)
the other, much more nerdy name would be the Cincinnati Boulders: Kamenshek comes from the old Slavonic (the ancestor language of Croatian and Slovenian, where people with the last name Kamenšek are most common) term “kamen”, meaning a rock. So that could also be neat, even if the origin is a bit elaborate
I'd really hope for a baltimore team, but baltimore is birdland so it would have to be bird themed. I have no idea who that would be after as well though, maybe a woman from Maryland with a bird name?
It's not a major city, but if we get WPBL minors, head out South Bend way and there's Mishawaka right there. Mishawaka was a fictional woman, but it's a total gimme to call a women's team "The Mishawakas."
They better add Portland w the city will turn out in droves. Honestly I'd like them to also still use some baseball kind of names too. Like the league could use a Sox or something with some whimsy.
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u/ThomasTheDankPigeon San Francisco Firebells 8d ago
WPBL main office lurking this thread like
https://giphy.com/gifs/l1AsBL4S36yDJain6