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Kevin Sheedy - GWS AFL coach
To coincide with Saturday night’s historic first ever elite-level AFL match at Blacktown, Team GWS launched their search for a nickname and colours on the weekend. You may ask ‘what’s in a name?’, but for the AFL’s 18th club, it is one small part of forming an identity to engage the local community.
Team GWS’s campaign centres on a website whereby supporters get their chance to a select a nickname and colours.
There are four nickname options, the Giants, the Rangers, the Pride and the Stallions. But fans can also submit their own suggestions, along with their preferred colours.
It is an open and slightly organic way of finding a team name, but we will await the results to decide whether or not it is a successful process.
Indeed, Team GWS’s campaign comes in the wake of several new Australian sporting franchises employing various methods to find a nickname in the last 12 months or so.
Back in late 2008, the AFL’s 17th club, Gold Coast FC, offered supporters five nickname suggestions but left the door open when there was no clear winner. Nothing appeared to capture the fans’ imagination.
But Gold Coast chairman John Witheriff said back then: “We will be the Gold Coast, GC or whatever the fans choose to call us. Nicknames evolve over time.” Indeed, the door is still ajar and they seem to have opted for an organic method.
Meanwhile, A-League new-boys Melbourne Heart launched a curious campaign where they named themselves, then offered fans a chance to select from four options months later whilst still being titled the Heart. It seemed inevitable nothing would change.
Others such as the Super 15’s Melbourne Rebels and the A-League’s Sydney Rovers were decided upon by management with a bit of consultation with the community, but mostly without a lot of fuss.
So with that in mind, it is interesting to observe Team GWS’s campaign and their reasons behind it.
In a press release from Team GWS this weekend, coach Kevin Sheedy said: “Right from the start we have made it clear that we want to build a club which is truly representative of this great community.
“What better way is there for the people of Greater Western Sydney and all of our supporters to help build this club than by helping shaping its name and identity.
“Our name really needs to capture the essence of Western Sydney – this is one incredible region with so much to be proud of and we need to celebrate that.
“We’re looking for something big, bold and ambitious – a great name for a great team.”
Whether anything ‘captures the essence of Western Sydney’ remains to be seen, but the Team GWS’s pre-existing four options hardly inspire.
On the website, it is claimed the Giants ‘embodies the size, strength and power of West Sydney’. The Rangers is about ‘adventurous people from where the plains meet the mountains’ while the Pride is ‘a region with lots to be proud of’ and the Stallions are ‘fast-moving, powerful and impressive.’
Curiously, it isn’t said how long the campaign runs for and you must submit your email address on the website to vote. It seems the campaign isn’t just about finding a team name and colours.
And many will say it’s a superficial topic, but it is another step in the developmental process of Team GWS’s push to engage the local community, and it is worth observation.
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