Alberni District Secondary’s sports teams now have a new name, after following a decision-making process that led to an inherent dynamic of the territory that they call home.
To a gym filled with jubilant fanfare, ADSS announced on Oct. 3 that its sports teams will now bear the name Storm, referencing the Alberni Valley’s long history of harsh weather over the cooler months. Storm replaces the former Armada name, which the school abandoned over a year ago due to it having little meaning for students.
“Coaches were saying, students, they don’t even know what armada is,” commented Mike Roberts, ADSS’ athletics director. “What relevance is it to our area here?”
Roberts recalls that Armada originated in 1985 when he was a student at the high school, a time when ADSS’ teams had different names.
“The senior boys basketball team was the Chieftains, the senior girls was the Chiefettes, the Celtics was the soccer team, rugby was the Barbarians, I think,” recalled Roberts.
Armada means a fleet of armed ships, and the former logo was a two-masted schooner on the ocean. At a school where one third of the student population identifies as Indigenous, the Armada name and logo brought a potential connotation with the region’s colonial past, leading ADSS to drop the brand over a year ago. The schooner logo was replaced with an A bearing a design made by Hesquiaht artist Geena Haiyupus, and now a new emblem for the school’s sports teams is being developed.
“What we want with that is simplicity,” said Roberts of the new logo. “If you follow that team it’s recognizable. That’s the trick for us, it’s to find something simple that means ‘school’ and through time everybody will understand.”
Roberts says it was clear that the high school teams needed a new logo when ADSS moved from Burde Street to its current location on Roger 12 years ago. But the process didn’t get prioritized until about two years ago, when a request to the School District 70 board of trustees to change the name was approved. ADSS faculty engaged with representatives from the local Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations in discussions on an appropriate name. Soon 10 potentials came up, including Fog, Rain and the seriously considered Tsunami, but Port Alberni’s youth swim teams are already named after the tidal wave that unfolds after an offshore earthquake.
“Going through all the names, this is one that came through,” said Tseshaht Councillor Nasimius, Ed Ross. “We’ve shared a lot of legends to give an identity to this.”
In the naming process Roberts found that the Storm moniker brought a widespread relevance.
“Tseshaht’s logo is lightening snakes, lightening bolts and thunder, it just made sense,” he said.
“It was significant to us, it’s significant to everybody. A storm is pretty powerful,” added Ross. “It’s natural, it’s naturally powerful, just like our athletes.”
As the ADSS cheer team performed for a crowd in the gym, two dancers wearing hinkeets masks moved on either side of them. A group of Tseshaht singers also performed for the audience to mark the unveiling of the school’s new team name.
Ross was also a student at ADSS, and found the recent occasion as another reminder of how much the school has changed since his high school days.
“In past history we weren’t included on these things. Now we are, and it just feels good that we’re moving together,” he said. “Coming through what we’ve come through over the years and seeing our kids be proud of who they are, putting on those hakuuma (mask), the hinkeets (head piece), us singing, that’s beautiful.”
