Many sports teams are named for an ethnic group or similar category of people. Though these names typically refer to a group native to the area in which the sports team is based, many teams take their names from groups which are known for their strength (such as Spartans or Vikings), despite not being located near the historic homes of these groups.
Fighting Irish University of Notre Dame, USA
Washington most commonly refers to:
Maverick or Maveric may refer to:
The North Dakota Fighting Hawks are the athletic teams that represent the University of North Dakota (UND), located in the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota. The Fighting Hawks compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I level as a member of the Summit League. With 17 varsity teams, North Dakota is best known for its Ice Hockey team and American Football team. North Dakota's main rivalries are with the North Dakota State Bison and the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
Cerritos College is a public community college in Norwalk, California. It offers degrees and certificates in 87 areas of study in nine divisions.
Highlander may refer to:
McLean High School is a public high school within the Fairfax County Public Schools in McLean, Virginia, United States. In 2024, U.S. News & World Report rated McLean the 218th-best U.S. public high school, and fifth-best in Virginia.
Branham High School is a secondary school in San Jose, California, located in the Cambrian neighborhood within the West San Jose region. It originally opened on September 13, 1967, under the Campbell Union High School District (CUHSD) before closing in 1991. The District leased the campus to Valley Christian Schools in 1991. The school was reopened by CUHSD in 1999 due to increased enrollment within the district. It is named after Isaac Branham, a Californian pioneer who became a successful farmer and lumber mill owner.
Sports in Minnesota include professional teams in all major sports, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, especially in the Winter Olympics, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations and active amateur teams and individual sports. The State of Minnesota has a team in all five major professional leagues. Along with professional sports, there are numerous collegiate teams including the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and St. Thomas Tommies in NCAA Division I, as well as many others across the Minnesota public and private colleges and universities.
Since the 1960s, the issue of Native American and First Nations names and images being used by sports teams as mascots has been the subject of increasing public controversy in the United States and Canada. This has been a period of rising Indigenous civil rights movements, and Native Americans and their supporters object to the use of images and names in a manner and context they consider derogatory. They have conducted numerous protests and tried to educate the public on this issue.
Monterey Peninsula College (MPC) is a public community college in Monterey, California. Established in 1947, it is a part of the California Community Colleges system. There are two additional MPC campuses located in Marina, CA, and Seaside, CA.
The Brown Bears are the sports teams that represent Brown University, an American university located in Providence, Rhode Island. The Bears are part of the Ivy League conference. Brown's mascot is Bruno. Both the men's and women's teams share the name, competing in 34 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I sports. In football, the Bears, along with all other the Ivy League teams, compete in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS).
The Western Washington Vikings represent Western Washington University in intercollegiate sports in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference of the NCAA Division II with the exception of the women's rowing team which is a member of the Northwest Collegiate Rowing Conference. WWU has been an official member of NCAA Division II since September 1998. Their mascot is Victor E. Viking.
Many American sports team names and mascots are based upon or use religious symbolism. The majority are scholastic teams at institutions founded by various denominations of Christianity, both Catholic and Protestant. Saints is the most popular of these names not only at religious schools but public schools. However, the latter are often indirect, the schools being located in places named for saints. The only team name that has become controversial is Crusaders, many having changed in recent years. The term, once associated with protectors of the faith is now also associated with oppression. Many Christian schools use "Knights" as their team names with imagery similar to crusaders, but it is difficult to establish religious symbolism in these cases. There are also a number of teams whose name includes demons or devils, which are mythological creatures from many cultures. However, the devil imagery in sports used by professional sports teams as well as public and non-sectarian schools are an example of the Devil in the arts and popular culture more than religion. There are also a few team identities based upon Norse mythology in popular culture.
Sports in New York's Capital District are very popular, and there is a rich history of professional teams and college athletics.
The UMass Lowell River Hawks are the NCAA Division I intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Massachusetts Lowell in Lowell, Massachusetts, United States. Members of the America East Conference for all sports. UMass Lowell sponsors teams in seven men's and seven women's NCAA sanctioned sports. Prior to transitioning to Division I in 2013, the River Hawks competed in the Northeast-10 Conference in Division II.