New mascot for Richland, which becomes first public school in Texas with this nickname
The Birdville Independent School District board of trustees unanimously voted on the new mascot for Richland High School during Thursday night’s school board meeting.
Drum roll please....
Welcome the Richland Royals.
“It’s a great day to be a royal,” said football coach Ged Kates, who’s entering his ninth year with Richland.
Added girls basketball coach Shelley Davis, “Richland Royals will be amazing.”
Richland, which has been known as the Rebels since 1961, becomes the first public school in Texas nicknamed Royals.
In June, BISD unanimously voted to remove the Rebel mascot and related Confederate imagery.
The vote came after more than 25,000 people signed a petition calling for the removal of the Confederate symbols at the school including a Richland Rebel flag reminiscent of the Stars and Bars, the dance team name Dixie Belles and the spirit team name Johnny Reb. The decision also came during the hundreds of protests across the country for the Black Lives Matter movement.
“I think it’s cool to be a part of something like this. This new mascot will create a new lasting tradition for generations to come,” said rising senior Chloe Alderson. “And to think that I will be the first class to graduate as a royal is really unique. I am blessed to be a part of this because it’s something not everyone gets to say.”
Other options were Raptors and Rattlers. Students had a say and voted on their favorite.
“We’ve always been unique so when it was time to change mascots, we still wanted to be unique,” said Richland principal Mark McCanlies. “There are 88 schools in Texas who are the Eagles ... and we just didn’t want to do that. We wanted to be something different.”
The change is effective immediately.
