Call them Warriors and Rainbow Wahine

[uhwarriors]

University of Hawaii athletic director Ben Jay told the Star-Advertiser on Tuesday he is "leaning strongly" toward naming all UH men's intercollegiate sports teams Warriors and all women's teams Rainbow Wahine.

Jay said an official statement on the contentious issue of the UH team nicknames is being drafted and will be released "within the next few days."

http://www.staradvertiser.com/newspremi ... =190979331

[J-Rod]

It sounds fair. Best way to appease both arguing parties.....I'm no fan of a University athletics program having multiple monikers, but in this case I understand the compromise.

[EITSwarrior]

Expect to hear a Joe Moore rant about this tonight haha.

[wyokie]

I prefer Rainbow Warriors/Rainbow Wahine but then again, I'm a Cowboy so.....

[RedZone]

I've grown used to Warriors so its okay by me. I would prefer Na Wahine but Rainbow Wahine is okay too.

[TheDuke]

JUST WIN BABY!!!!

[RedZone]

According to the animals from Ben Jay effective immediately all mens sport are to be the Warriors and the womens sports Rainbow Wahine.

[Sweet Lei Mokihana]

According to the animals from Ben Jay effective immediately all mens sport are to be the Warriors and the womens sports Rainbow Wahine.

I can live with that.

I would have liked to see the women sports called WAHINE WARRIORS...but for a woman sport I don't mind they have Rainbows attached.

For our men sports? NAW!!! Warriors......period!

[reignjah11]

im ok with it. im used to the baseball team being called the rainbows so its gonna be weird calling them warriors from now on. especially with the season starting this friday. no lets go bows chants...

[FASBOY'90]

I would think there should only be one. So there are no mix up in pronouncing two different names between the kane's and wahine's. Since the rainbow logo is no longer used, I'd say stick with warriors. Wahine warriors wouldn't sound to bad after all. If not add, "Koa Kane, Koa Wahine, Hawaiian Warriors, or a Hawaiian Name that better describes our island tradition and character before warriors.

[BigWave96744]

The Official Press Release per UH Athletics

UH Mānoa Athletics Standardizes Nickname For Men’s Sports

HONOLULU – All University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa men’s sports will officially begin using the nickname “Warriors” on July 1, 2013. The university’s women’s sports will continue to be referred to as the “Rainbow Wahine.”

The process of notifying internal and external entities in preparation for the July 1 transition will begin immediately.

“The words – warriors, wahine, and rainbow – represent who we are as a university and athletics department,” Athletics Director Ben Jay said. “By utilizing these two nicknames, we keep with our tradition and are able to have a consistent branding and marketing message.”

Currently, UH’s men’s sports are either referred to as “Warriors” (football, golf, tennis and volleyball), “Rainbows” (baseball) or “Rainbow Warriors” (basketball and swimming & diving). Since 1972, all of the university’s women’s sports have used the nickname “Rainbow Wahine,” (wahine is the Hawaiian word for woman).

“I’ve received feedback from many individuals and groups – coaches, student-athletes, boosters, corporate partners, alumni, businessmen and women – and the common message was consistency and to find an identity,” Jay said. “Our women’s sports have been branded with the ‘Rainbow Wahine’ nickname for 40 years and there’s no confusion there. However, on the men’s side, that’s not the case.”

UH’s men’s sports were nicknamed the “Deans” until the early 1920s. In the final game of the 1923 football season, UH head coach Otto Klum’s squad upset Oregon State, 7-0, at Mo‘ili‘ili Field. During the game, a rainbow appeared over the field. Reporters started calling UH teams the “Rainbows,” and the tradition began that Hawai‘i would not lose a game if a rainbow appeared.

In 1974 the UH football team adopted the nickname “Rainbow Warriors,” however, the university’s use of the name went back a number of years prior to that. In 2000, the football team dropped “Rainbow” from its nickname as did several other men’s programs. The baseball and coed sailing teams are the only teams to currently use “Rainbows” as their primary nickname. Moving forward, both teams will be called the “Warriors.”

The athletics department will continue to use the official “H” logo and “Hawai`i” kapa font.

[uhwarriors]

In less than 5 weeks on the job, Ben Jay has made the call that's been years in the making. Whether you like it or not, it's a done deal, the decision has been made. It's time to move on. Consistent branding is going to make a big difference in uniform deals and overall imaging. Now Ben Jay can focus on other very important things.

[FASBOY'90]

I guess its official. As long as the rainbow lingers, there will always be confusion amongst those who don't understand the difference between the warriors, rainbows, kane's and wahine's. Sometime change is good over time.

[WA Warrior]

It's about time this decision was made from someone with authority and common sense. For those still crying over Rainbow Warriors, it's over now, get over it. Come and join the rest of the Hawai'i fans or go live back in the 70s, 80s, and 90s.

I'll always have respect for the Rainbow Warriors that I grew up watching and cheering on but they aren't the ones suiting up now, neither are the critics to the name "Warriors".

[BigWave96744]

What about the Rainbow Dancers, Rainbow Marching Band & Rainbowtique Store?
I wonder if the Outrigger Rainbow Classic will don a new name, too?