I've Seen That Logo Before

There has been a common theme at universities across Canada and the US over the last decade to reduce the number of offensively-sounding team names from the landscape. Whether it be the Fighting Sioux becoming the Fighting Hawks, the University of Miami-Ohio changing Redmen to Redhawks, or McGill University following the same path in changing Redmen to Redbirds, moving away from these names shows an evolution by these schools to be better for everyone. Simon Fraser University announced a new name yesterday in effort to distance themselves from their old name, but I'm not sure they used this opportunity to make their brand better as the new name feels like it could have been one of the forgotten options in a "Name The Team" poll.

It took two years of consultation, but Simon Fraser University's sports teams will be called the Red Leafs after choosing to drop their previous name of "Clan" which had already been shortened from "Clansmen". The Clansmen name was originally a nod to heritage of Scottish explorer and fur trader Simon Fraser before it was shortened to Clan to be more gender-neutral, but there was significant concern about the name mistakenly being tied to the Ku Klux Klan.

"I'm proud that the university is moving forward under the Red Leafs name," SFU president Joy Johnson said in a statement. "We feel it captures the heritage and spirit of SFU, and its unique role in collegiate sports."

The new logo, seen to the right, is certainly a red leaf in two of the three cases, and it was reached through extensive consultation and collaboration with numerous student groups such as the Simon Fraser Students Society, the Indigenous Students Centre, the SFU Students of Caribbean and African Ancestry (SOCA), and the SFU First Nations, Metis and Inuit Student Association (FNMISA). Administrators also met with and sought feedback from nine Indigenous Host Nations in order to ensure that the newly-chosen name wasn't going to cause harm to any of the campus or community populations at or near Simon Fraser University.

I commend SFU's efforts in finding a new name that works both on campus and in the community, but I'm not entirely sure that this was the most creative choice they could have chosen. SFU's sports logo has included a maple leaf for decades, so this feels like they're simply re-establishing a long-used logo that was already part of their identity. The logo is fine, though, and there's no problem using an-already-in-place logo as the primary logo for the school, but the name seems so generic. Obviously, the name "Maple Leafs" was out thanks to that NHL team in Toronto, so they can't represent any of the species of maple trees that grow in their region with their name. In the end, generic "red leafs" gets the nod.

Ryan Stolys, co-chair of the varsity name working group and current golf student-athlete, told The Canadian Press, "[T]he new name connects with the leaf logo many previous SFU athletes competed under and builds on the school's representation when competing in the United States as Canada's only NCAA team."

I don't know if anyone really needs that confirmation of SFU's location, but that's their story and they're sticking to it, it seems. At the end of the day, the Red Leafs will start a new chapter in their history with this new name, one that hopefully sees the football team ascend to greater heights than the 2021 1-7 team that was outscored 350-84 in those games.

If there's one team who will help the Red Leafs become a more household name in British Columbia, it's the men's hockey team that plays in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League. SFU went 12-0-0 last season en route to their fourth BCIHL championship in team history, and they also made headlines across the country when goaltender Kayla Munro took the crease for the third period as the forst woman to appear in a BCIHL game!

Athletics facts aside, the Red Leafs will take to the ice, field, court, and pitch this year under a logo that already existed. As generic as the name seems, SFU uses a red-and-whote colour scheme, so it fits the school's identity quite well. Would I have liked something more creative? Absolutely. Branding should be fun and memorable, and it will be on SFU to sell the "Red Leafs" name in and around British Columbia.

The first Red Leafs team to wear the new name in a game will be the women's volleyball team on Thursday, so let's hope the historic first Red Leafs game is win for SFU.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!