John McReynolds/Sports Writer | Posted: Friday, October 28, 2005 12:00 am
Team names have come along way from Tigers and Bulldogs, Blues and Browns.
Especially in AYSO soccer in Lompoc.
Especially among girls.
What color do you associate with lightning? Gold yellow, white? How about teal?
Yes, there/s an under-10 girls team named the Teal Lightning Bolts.
Another color came to mind when Jason Cochran/s under-14 girls were choosing a name.
They call themselves the Black Magic Babes. Not to be confused with the Dark Side of Bob Van Nostrand, though they are the same age.
Betty Lee/s Funky Monkeys, or Fonkey Munkys, are younger, under-12. They won the AYSO banner contest which opened the season.
In the interest of research, the Record asked some of the teams what it was that inspired their genius.
The Teal Lightning Bolts are 10-year-olds. They practice at La Cañada School.
None of the players on the team had seen lightning in the color of teal but Savannah Tucker/s mom thought that she/d seen it in a book. So Savannah proposed the name because the team/s uniforms were teal.
Turtles, Stars and Mermaids were in the race as well, Mermaids in the opinion of Gabrielle Pacheco sounding “more furious,C she said, clenching her fists.
But Teal Lightning Bolts got five votes and nothing else more than two, so the die was cast.
The most creative image of all however might be the Blueberry Rockets.
Visualize last week/s Titan 4 smeared with blueberries, juice dripping down the nose cone, as it lifts off the shaking pad.
Imagine blueberries raining down on Jalama Beach.
“The girls said >we don/t want a same-old name,/C said coach Dorine Fabing last week. “Of course I always go for something patriotic, but they never listen to me.C
At practice Wednesday, the Rockets declared flatly that their name was hands down “the coolestC in all of Lompoc AYSO soccer.
Ashley Fabing, the coach/s niece, took credit for thinking up the label.
“I said Blueberry Rockets because Rockets are fast and we/re fast.
“And blueberries are sweet like us,C she giggled.
“Our team color is blue and we needed something to match it,C pointed out Liliana Torres.
There were other nominees7 Smurfs, Care Bears, Cookie Monsters.
The decision came down to a vote between Care Bears and Blueberry Rockets. Care Bears received three votes, but every other hand went up for Blueberry Rockets.
The Rockets have heard some other cool names 7 The Dark Side and Black Magic Babes impress them the most, but feel they/re not as cool as their own.
“I think that name gives them energy like rockets,C said coach Fabing. “They run like rockets.C
The downside of a cool name is that boys, who usually can/t seem to do better in the creativity department than copies of bigger teams- Chivas, America, Braves, make fun of the Rockets.
“The boys we scrimmage with don/t like our name,C said the coach. “They said it/s lame and started calling us the Blueberry Muffins.
“The girls cracked up.C
But when asked point blank last week what objections they had to scrimmaging with Blueberry Rockets, three players from the Galaxy made a lightning retreat.
“We never said that,C they insisted.
Creativity apprarently does not ensure success on the field however.
After six games the Teal Lightning Bolts were 3-3. The Rockets were 2-2-2.
Maybe you do have to be a Bulldog or a Tiger.