Rowing championships' pelican seeks a name

Polly the Pelican?

Probably not.

Sandy? Pickles? Rowman? Oarman? Goldie?

One thing is sure, Max Winitz and his World Rowing Championships team will have to sort through a lot of name suggestions now that a pelican has been plucked out to be the event's mascot.

Winitz, the communications, media and public relations manager for the 2017 World Rowing Championships at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, announced the new mascot last week, along with a naming challenge contest for the bird.

People have flocked to their computers ever since.

"I expected a good response, but maybe not to this extent,," Winitz said. "With the power of social media, I think mascots are becoming more popular, especially with those going to a sporting event. We've received dozens of naming suggestions and more are coming in every minute. We have to narrow the list to five names."

The top five selections will then begin a separate vote to decide the winner.

Name submissions must be gender neutral, and the deadline to submit is 11:59 p.m. Dec. 23. 

World Championship Rowing committee members noticed that the event already had a pelican in its logo, so it seemed like a natural choice.

"After a lot of discussion and thought, we decided on the pelican," Winitz said. "We were required to have a mascot, so we were pondering the question of what sort of animal symbolizes this area. We had a lot of input from business leaders, community members, and the folks who make up our local organizing committee, so we got input from all over the place. We’re very proud of how the pelican mascot came out." 

The voting process for the name of the mascot will be done electronically. Name submissions can be made via direct messaging on Facebook and Twitter (@wrch2017), or they can be submitted via email to: [email protected] with the subject line: Pelican Mascot Name. 

The new mascot will lurk around Nathan Benderson Park throughout the upcoming year and also will represent the event at various regional events.

“When we were looking at the mascot, as well as the naming contest, it’s fun to really think about what characterizes a community, and to also think about how you can make an iconic character come out of this event," said Jessica Schubick of the marketing and communications task force for the event. We’re giving a nice character to the Bradenton and Sarasota area." 

Schubick said people of all ages are participating in the naming contest.

"We expected to have some kids, and mostly younger people engaged with it ," she said. "But I think it’s been exciting to see how much people of all ages and demographics have been able to have fun with this."