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Students at schools in Farragut and Hamburg, Iowa, have selected a new name and mascot, the Nishnabotna Blue Devils, for the combined sports teams.
The name still needs final approval by both the Farragut and Hamburg school boards.
Superintendent Jay Lutt said students in third through 12th grade in both schools voted on the top five names and mascots suggested by the public.
Suggestions were taken via the schools’ Web sites, with those suggestions being whittled down to the top contenders through polls.
“For two weeks we did the names and two weeks for the mascots,” Lutt said. “Three from each week moved on.”
For the final vote, the top names and mascots were presented to the students.
Lutt said Nishnabotna won by 3 percent, followed by South Central, Botna Valley, Loess Hills and a tie between West Fremont and South Fremont.
Blue Devils edged out the second place Storm by 13 percent, Lutt said, followed by Cougars, Bobcats and Warriors.
“The kids were excited,” said Lutt. “They must have enjoyed the process of having some input to it.”
The Farragut school board approved the name Nishnabota at its March 8 meeting but tabled approval of the mascot.
“A lot of the reasoning was they wanted to see what Hamburg’s thoughts were,” Lutt said. “Some people misconstrued that the devils represent evil, instead of a mascot representing the heroic World War I veterans.”
Lutt said the term Blue Devils, also the mascot for Duke University, refers to “les Diables Bleus,” a well-known French army unit during World War I.
The Hamburg school board discussed the name and mascot last week and felt both were appropriate, Lutt said.
Pending approval by the boards, most likely in April, Lutt said uniforms with the new name and mascot will be ordered.
“Both principal/ADs (athletic directors) have been working tirelessly to combine properly all the sports and working on how the uniforms will play out,” said Lutt. “There are order deadlines, and amounts, and just trying to put all that together is a much harder task than anyone can imagine.”
The school boards have agreed to share volleyball, junior high and high school football, junior high and high school boys’ and girls’ track, boys’ and girls’ basketball, softball and baseball.
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