After 41 years of educating the people of Northwest Georgia and beyond, Northwestern Technical College is heading down yet another path: College Athletics.

The birth of an athletic program comes with hundreds of issues and thousands of questions. “Where are you going to play home games? Are you going to be in a particular league? We have heard, discussed, and solved just about every issue imaginable,” said Don Foley, Director of Public Relations and Marketing at the Rock Spring, Georgia-based college. “Now, there’s one big question almost every person asks. No matter where I go to visit in the area, people ask me, ‘Hey, what are you going to call yourselves?’ Or, ‘Don’t you need a mascot?’”

With more than 2,300 students enrolled at Northwestern this quarter, President Dr. Ray Brooks made this issue a simple one. “We wanted the students of this school to have the final voice in the process,” said Brooks.

In November, a committee at Northwestern came up with dozens of mascot ideas which were quickly narrowed down. “We had simple criteria,” said Foley. “The mascot we selected had to be unique to the area. We serve eight public high schools across the four counties of Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, and Walker. So, we couldn’t be the Ramblers, Tigers, Wolverines, or any other local high school mascot.”

The Northwestern committee also wanted to avoid popular collegiate mascots. “We weren’t going to be the Northwestern Bulldogs or the Northwestern Crimson Tide,” said Foley. “This needed to be a team that represented these students, our neighbors, and these communities.” After narrowing the list to ten finalists, they were presented to the faculty and staff of Northwestern. “Teachers and staff voted for the final five from which the students would select the winner,” said Foley. Director of Planning and Institutional Research at the college, Dr. Craig Harston coordinated the surveying efforts of our faculty, staff, and students.

After students completed a campus-wide survey process on December 6, these are the three finalists. “The students casted the most votes for the Patriots, Mustangs, and Knights,” said Dione Hodge, Student Life Coordinator at Northwestern Technical College. “We would be happy with any one of the three finalists.”

The official unveiling date of the winning mascot is still being decided. “We are considering revealing the mascot at the first Northwestern home game,” said Men’s Head Basketball Coach, David Stephenson. Home games in 2008 will be played at LaFayette High School.

This first year of athletics at Northwestern Technical College will be a pilot year for Men’s Basketball and Women’s Volleyball. “They are playing in a test league of sorts with three other technical colleges in the Technical College System of Georgia,” said Foley. “Griffin Tech in Griffin, Georgia, West Central Tech in Waco, Georgia, and Coosa Valley Tech in Rome, Georgia, will be playing in a four-team league. Now, there are 29 other schools in the Technical College System of Georgia that will be watching what happens closely this year.”

Four of the 33 schools in the Technical College System of Georgia are already members of the Georgia Junior College Athletic Association. Albany, Chattahoochee, South Georgia, and Valdosta Technical Colleges are currently members of the 16-team conference. “We’ve been asked if it’s a goal of ours to join this group,” said Foley. “Our goal right now is simple. We need to learn all we can as this pilot year progresses from the planning stages to completion of the season. We want this to be something that will make everyone at Northwestern and in our communities proud.”

Northwestern will play a 12-game schedule beginning on January 12 in Rome against Coosa Valley Technical College. “We will play four road games, four home games, and four games at a neutral site,” said Foley. Northwestern’s first home game will be played on January 19 at LaFayette High School when they host the Griffin Tech Tigers