Hi Everyone!
I wanted to share an update with you all after an incredible media week.
The Ottawa Citizen and Sun wrote and shared an article early this week which saw a lot of traction in the community. Like all of you, Ottawanians were surprised by the College's lack of cohesion relating to the name change, and puzzled by the waste of money.https://ottawacitizen.com/sports/other-sports/thunder-storm-alumni-unhappy-algonquin-changing-team-nickname-to-wolves/wcm/df52431c-b52e-4826-9da4-2a1fd6e6c57b/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1587952954
John MacInnis (4-time OCAA Gold Medal and CCAA Runner Up in 2011), the 10 year retired coach of the Women's Basketball team, engaged Ian Mendes in a great conversation on Team 1200, which gave us a ton of additional media support we're hoping to capitalize on.
https://www.tsn.ca/radio/ottawa-1200/john-macinnis-on-the-algonquin-thunder-name-change-1.1470411
In both cases, the SA didn't offer much response (the article contains the same tone-deaf justification), and for the radio interview they flat out refused to participate.
We collectively don't understand this response. They aren't engaging their angry alumni, showing a path forward to existing student athletes or generally being transparent about their decision. Once again we're left feeling that the SA made a decision in a room for their own benefit, and thought no one would notice-- heck, the presidential election only received 80 votes in total, maybe they truly thought no one cared.
Unfortunately for them, we do. And there are almost 2,000 of us able and willing to put our names down to prove it.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support, particularly through the Covid pandemic. Stay safe and take some time for self-care-- and remember, we're still not taking this lying down.
Stacey