VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 newest sports franchise looks to land on its feet in 2013 as the HarbourCats.
The name and logo of the amateur status West Coast League baseball team, which uses top NCAA and collegiate level players during a short summer schedule, was introduced on Friday (Oct. 12), to much anticipation since the club was officially
B次元官网网址淲e feel the name fits the geography of the region, a nod to the importance and beauty of VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 Inner Harbour and, with other team names in the West Coast League,B次元官网网址� said general manager Holly Jones.
The colour scheme is dark navy blue text with the cat and its fangs in B次元官网网址渄eep aqua blue,B次元官网网址� A matching V logo, for Victoria, will be featured as the teamB次元官网网址檚 secondary graphic.
So where does HarbourCats stack up with VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 nicknames of old? It doesnB次元官网网址檛.
LacrosseB次元官网网址檚 Shamrocks and hockeyB次元官网网址檚 Cougars, currently in use, date back to the 1950s and prior. New club names such as hockeyB次元官网网址檚 Victoria Royals (2011) and Grizzlies (2006), and soccerB次元官网网址檚 Victoria Highlanders (2008), are also cut from the traditional mold.
HarbourCats stands apart, using a modern trend known as CamelCase, says Toronto-based design analyst Chris Creamer.
B次元官网网址淭he popular term for this type of font (HarbourCats) is CamelCase, as the word mimics the humps on a camelB次元官网网址檚 back,B次元官网网址� says the self-made sports logo expert and proprietor of Sportslogos.net. It was Creamer who was the first to discover and post the Royals WHL logo on his website in 2011, days before it was officially released.
Creamer pointed out that picking a team name with CamelCase is saying to the public B次元官网网址渢his is a minor league team with minor league branding and weB次元官网网址檙e not going to bother trying to hide it.B次元官网网址�
However, as Jones has pointed out, the HarbourCats are the WCLB次元官网网址檚 third team with such a name, joining the Wenatchee AppleSox and Kitsap BlueJackets. There are a dozen more minor league teams from across North America to use the CamelCase style in their name in the past three years.
But nobody is mistaking Royal Athletic Park, the HarbourCatsB次元官网网址� home, as a big league venue.
B次元官网网址淲e wanted a team name and logo that accomplished a number of things,B次元官网网址� said owner John McLean. B次元官网网址淚t needed to be bold and edgy, while looking sharp on uniforms, merchandise, the web, advertising and social media.B次元官网网址�
HarbourCats was one of the over 600 submissions received by the team from the name-the-team contest, in which the initial 250 name suggestions, plus another five randomly drawn names, were awarded a pair of tickets to a 2013 home game.
The name of the submitter has not been revealed as it was not a grand prize, winner takes all contest.
B次元官网网址淲e felt this was the most appropriate submission, and one that worked well on all fronts,B次元官网网址� said Jones.
The WCL is a wood bat summer league populated with collegiate level players from across North America. Medford, Ore. (yet to be named) also joins the WCL, which expands to 11 teams for 2013. The inaugural HarbourCats season begins the first week of June 2013 and runs through mid-August, with 27 home games at RAP and 27 away games. Next is the design of the team uniforms, hats and the team mascot.
