Shenandoah schools plan to unify girls and boys sports under Mustangs nickname | News

(Shenandoah) — Shenandoah school officials are considering unifying their boys and girls sports teams under one mascot.

During its regular meeting this week, the Shenandoah School Board heard a presentation from Activities Director Jon Weinrich regarding the potential change. Since girls’ sports were introduced to the school district in the 1970s, Weinrich said they have used the nickname Fillies. Today, Weinrich told KMA News that the school district’s leadership team is considering combining the school’s boys and girls sports teams under the Mustangs moniker.

“A Mustang is by definition male or female and that’s something we looked at carefully,” Weinrich said. “This is not an easy conversation or an easy decision because there is a lot of history with a ton of great athletes and teams. I myself have coached women’s sports at Shenandoah for the last 20 years, I “So I’ve used the word Fillies and trained a lot of great people. So it’s a tough decision, but we think it’s something that could be really positive for the future.”

Currently, Weinrich says only 13 school districts in Iowa have distinct names for their boys and girls sports teams, including Sidney with the Cowboys and Cowgirls and Stanton with the Vikings and Viqueens. While acknowledging the history of the Fillies nickname, Weinrich adds that having just one name could also serve as a unifying and inclusive effort for the schools’ sports teams and their fans.

“Having two nicknames isn’t necessarily bad, but I think if you were to start a whole new school and wanted to have the most complete, united fan base and have the choice of one or two mascots, starting again from zero, I think you I would have one,” he said. “Obviously we’re not starting from scratch, but I think in the future, if we look at everything, moving to one could be really positive for all kids.”

With nearly 20 years of experience coaching women’s sports and exposure to current and former athletes, Weinrich says they’re often called Mustangs anyway, or Fillies is misspelled.

“One of the frustrating things is we’re called the Mustangs a lot, whether it’s in the starting lineups or in programs it says Mustangs and sometimes with the Fillies we’ve come up and it’s misspelled like the Philadelphia Phillies,” Weinrich said. “Even though, in some ways, having a different nickname gives girls their own identity and a sense of power, it’s also very frustrating at times.”

He adds that several aspects of the school and other activities have already adopted the Mustangs name for all their members.

“In the K-8 building you can walk into the middle school gymnasium and on the wall it says Mustangs and Fillies and then on the floor it only says Mustangs and there are a few other places it says only Mustangs,” he said. “Our group is called Marching Mustangs and we’ve always called it that: they’re proud of their history and all the girls in the group are called Mustangs. The school is also located at 1000 Mustang Drive.

Weinrich notes that the potential change would in no way erase records or trophies bearing that moniker, but rather would give them additional reason to celebrate the accomplishments of former female athletes who played under a unique name. Weinrich notes that the change would require official action from the school board, which has not yet been taken as it continues to contact community members, organizations and stakeholders about a possible name change .