Neepawa hockey team changing name in response to calls to scrap offensive monikers

The Neepawa junior men's hockey team is changing its name.

The board of directors for the team in Manitoba's junior hockey leaguemade the decision to change its name at a meeting Tuesday night, head coach and general manager Ken Pearson told CBC News.

"We're just trying to get ahead of the curve here, andbe ahead of the game," Pearson said Wednesday.

Multiple factors went into the decision to change the name, including trends in the wider sporting world, as well as an expected regulatory change by Hockey Manitoba concerning offensive names, said Pearson.

"[The board wants] to begin a new era" but still carry on "the history and tradition of the hockey club," he said.

Pearson's history with the team dates back to its creation in 1989, when he started as a player at the age of 16. The team's current name, the Neepawa Natives, dates back to the early 1960s, when the local senior men's intermediate hockey team adopted it, he said.

With that history in mind, Pearson said he and others in the community feel some "disappointment" at the prospect of changing the name.

"There's also some excitement about it as well," he said. "I understand that in our ever-changing world that we need to keep up with the times and we don't want to get left behind. So we need to look forward and embrace the change as a team, and I'm looking forward to being the guy that helps lead that."

Peter Woods, executive director of Hockey Manitoba, told CBC News Wednesday he hadn't yet heard about the decision to change the name, but he said the move shows "good leadership and a social conscience."

"I think it's important that teams or organizations recognize that changes need to be made. And it's great to see that they've done that without any push or shove or heavy handedness or traction from the sport's governing body," he said.

The board of Hockey Manitoba, whichoversees amateur hockey in the province,is considering a regulatory change that could give it the authority to compel resistant clubs to changecontroversial or racist names.

A formal vote on the regulation changehasn't happened yet, but it could come as soon as January at Hockey Manitoba's next semi-annual general meeting.

For Neepawa's team, there is currently no process planned for making the name change, which is expected to happen in time for the 2021-2022 season. Local leaders and business people will come together to formulate a plan, said Pearson.

The decision to change theteam's name comes as another southern Manitoba hockey team, based in Morden, is considering a change to its name.

First Nations organizations, as well as Morden's mayor, have called for the city'ssenior men's hockeyteam to change its name, which is considered a slur against Indigenous people.

The Morden team has previouslysaid it is having discussions internally and would provide an update soon on what it plans to do.