Choosing a team name means choosing your identity.

Do you want to have the fearlessness of a lion, something inspirational like stars, or, do you want to intimidate with a name like brawlers or scrappers? Or, maybe you want something cool like blazers.

Here are some ways to help you choose your team name:

Identify

Think about what you want the core meaning of your team to be and expand on it. You can identify with historical figures, a city, or a neighborhood.

Write down descriptive words, adjectives, and verbs so you can think about what describes your team. As you write down words, images and visuals may appear to help you choose a name that represents your team.

Make sure that you do some research about the name or image you choose to identify with just to make sure it is not offensive or has a racist undertone and meaning.

Animals

Animals are a great starting point with many values, words, and symbolism that describe their habits, character, and behavior.

At my old high school, for example, North Catholic Falcons, the falcon represents vision, victory, overcoming, and freedom. Once you choose some animals, you will start to produce strong adjectives that can help you create a name.

For instance, if you’re not crazy about the falcon as your team’s name, use adjectives like freedom or victory to find another animal, like an eagle, that represents strength, courage, freedom, and power.

Colors

Black is associated with power and fear, red is associated with determination, strength, and desire, white is perfect and sincere.

Look up the meaning of colors and see if you can coordinate the color with the animal you may choose. Using a falcon with red and black colors, as my high school did, is an example.

Logos

Logos do not have to be elaborate to be powerful.

The Dallas Cowboys have a star as their symbol, a representative of the state of Texas. The single star logo makes sense because Texas is called “The Lone Star State.”

If all else fails, you can always use a sports team generator site to help you develop a team name by simply inputting information.

Be Open to Ideas

One of the best ways for everyone to like the name is to include them all in the creative process.

Make a list with different categories, for example, animals, colors, and adjectives, etc. Hand out the list to each player to vote on what they like best.

You want each player to have the opportunity to be a part of the process of the identity which they will assume and represent.

• Create categories for each player to vote and choose.
• Narrow down the results and vote again.
• Be inclusive as much as possible.
• Try to develop the color, logo, and animal to coincide with team identity.

Developing a team name is a great team-building exercise and experience.

Keep it fun, playful, and meaningful to develop camaraderie and make the kids feel a part of something bigger and greater, which will help mold their character on and off of the field.

Read More:

• How to Pick a Pun-Tastic, Awesome Fantasy Football Team Name
• The 6 Best Now-Defunct Team Names in Pro Sports