# Did your HS have a separate name for girls teams? Do they still? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 9, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401 "2017-10-09T20:14:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/1 "2017-10-09T20:14:38Z")
Driving through a town today, I noted that the high school team was the “Foxes”. This made me wonder with a half-chuckle if the girls team was the Vixens. I doubted it, of course, and looking up the school tells me that they are the Lady Foxes. My own school was the Trojans with the girls called the Trojanettes. Our crosstown rivals were the Mustangs and I could have sworn the girls teams were the Fillies. Looking now, it seems that “Fillies” is only used for the dance team and everyone is a Mustang regardless of gender. My son tells me that his school was the Lady Wildcats. Is this still a common thing? Anyone know of a school where there was any push to change it? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/2 "2017-10-09T20:17:09Z")
Mine didn’t. Indians for both. Our local school is the Dukes. It always kinda bothers me that the girls are the Lady Dukes. Why not the Duchesses? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/3 "2017-10-09T20:22:30Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Mine didn’t. Indians for both. Our local school is the Dukes. It always kinda bothers me that the girls are the Lady Dukes. Why not the Duchesses? No, no,no! The Daisy Dukes. We were the Cougars. I don’t even remember if the girls’ teams had a different name. Beyond track and cross-country, I didn’t pay attention to the sports side of things. Where I coached, it was the Huskies and the Lady Huskies. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/4 "2017-10-09T20:25:49Z")
Nope. Knights and Lady Knights. Our marching band was called the Lancer Band, though. Anyone else have a different band name? ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/5 "2017-10-09T20:41:15Z")
Lady Bruins - the Bruinettes were the cheerleaders (the largest and lowest-status of 4 different levels of cheer girls) ---
**Author:** ![yellowjacketcoder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/4bbf92/32.png) [@yellowjacketcoder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowjacketcoder)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/6 "2017-10-09T20:41:16Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Nope. Knights and Lady Knights. > > Our marching band was called the Lancer Band, though. Anyone else have a different band name? My HS was the Knights, and the girls’ teams were the Lady Knights also, but our band just “the EHS Marching Band” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/7 "2017-10-09T20:48:25Z")
They just add “Lady” when it is necessary to distinguish. They also put “Junior” in front of the junior high team, when necessary. The band may or may not have the mascot name. It’s either “The \_\_\_\_ High School/Junior High Marching band” or “Your (Junior) \_\_\_\_\_ Tigers Marching Band.” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/8 "2017-10-09T20:48:44Z")
Our boys’ teams were the Squires. Our girls’ teams did not exist, as I went to an all-male Catholic high school. 😉 My alma mater ceased to exist about 25 years ago, when declining enrollment led the diocese to combine the three Catholic schools (two all-male, one all-female) in Green Bay into one, new, co-ed school. Both the boys teams and the girls teams at the new school share the same name (Tritons). ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2017, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/9 "2017-10-09T23:26:52Z")
IIRC, everyone at my school was a Viking. I can’t find a cite, but I remember reading that years ago in Reader’s Digest there was an agricultural college somewhere out west where the men’s teams were called the Cattlefeeders, and the women’s teams were called the Cattlefeederettes. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/10 "2017-10-10T00:10:29Z")
We were “The Settlers” (short for “The First Settlers,” since we were the first English Settlement in NY), so it works for both Sexes. _Note_: we were the first school in the state to have a girl play on a varsity boy’s team. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/11 "2017-10-10T00:28:47Z")
I just googled /rams girls basketball/ and found quite a long list of high schools who use the nickname Rams for girls sports teams. University of South Carolina women’s basketball team is called Gamecocks. ---
**Author:** ![DinoR](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dinor/32/2821_2.png) [@DinoR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DinoR)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/12 "2017-10-10T00:35:54Z")
No different names. Of course we also didn’t have girls teams …or girls. That sort of bypassed the question. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/13 "2017-10-10T00:52:50Z")
My high school was also all-boys, and so avoided the question. Of the four high schools where I sub, all four use the same name for both sexes (Rangers, Pirates, Demons, and Rockets). ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/14 "2017-10-10T03:20:42Z")
We did have girls teams. In fact we had one who went on to a very successful WNBA career. No different name for the teams. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/15 "2017-10-10T04:57:29Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > They just add “Lady” when it is necessary to distinguish. They also put “Junior” in front of the junior high team, when necessary. The band may or may not have the mascot name. It’s either “The \_\_\_\_ High School/Junior High Marching band” or “Your (Junior) \_\_\_\_\_ Tigers Marching Band.” Distinguish it from what, exactly? ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/16 "2017-10-10T05:03:54Z")
> [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > Distinguish it from what, exactly? The boys team, presumably. I think the normal area of overlap for team sports was in basketball. Otherwise, the boys had football/baseball and the girls had volleyball and tennis. Solo sports like track were just “women’s track” or “men’s swimming”. I get the “why should the women be different for basketball?” which is part of why I wondered if any schools were changing it and just going for a single team name regardless of the team gender. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/17 "2017-10-10T05:30:23Z")
Yeah, I got it. My high school did that “Lady” thing and I found it patronizing then as much as I do now. There is the implication that there is the real team, and then the lady’s team. Otherwise, why not differentiate via “Gentlemen”? It’s ridiculous that this is still going on and worse, that many don’t see it as insulting. When I asked my daughter’s school if they used “Lady”, their response was “Why would we do that?. Teams are designated via “men’s” and “women’s”. ---
**Author:** ![Badger96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@Badger96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badger96)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/18 "2017-10-10T07:32:25Z")
Ours was Buffalos and Lady Buffalos, at least in 03-05. I found it patronizing. I get having the same team names but just use boy’s and girl’s or men’s and women’s ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/19 "2017-10-10T07:50:53Z")
> [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](#): > > Yeah, I got it. > My high school did that “Lady” thing and I found it patronizing then as much as I do now. There is the implication that there is the real team, and then the lady’s team. Otherwise, why not differentiate via “Gentlemen”? It’s ridiculous that this is still going on and worse, that many don’t see it as insulting. Yep, definitely. > [@](#): > > When I asked my daughter’s school if they used “Lady”, their response was “Why would we do that?. Teams are designated via “men’s” and “women’s”. That’s good to hear, even if it isn’t universal. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2017, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401/20 "2017-10-10T08:04:56Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Mine didn’t. Indians for both. Our local school is the Dukes. It always kinda bothers me that the girls are the Lady Dukes. Why not the Duchesses? The Queen’s a [Duke](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duke_of_Lancaster). A Duchess is the wife of a Duke, not a female Duke. Not sure if that makes Prince Philip a Duchess 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-your-hs-have-a-separate-name-for-girls-teams-do-they-still/798401.md?page=2)