"Name our club" contest (February 17) 

A message from the club's board of directors:

Effective March 31, 2006, we will end our affiliation with the Silverbacks and start a new chapter in our life as a club.  Metro North and United Quest will go forward together as a new merged club, with the same coaches, staff, teams and facilities that we now enjoy.  Everything's in place for us to face the future as a strong and re-energized club except one thing ... WHAT IS OUR NAME?!?!?

The Board wants your ideas, so this is your invitation to participate in our NAME THE CLUB Contest.  The rules are simple:  email your ideas to nametheclub@silverbackssoccerclub.org.   Do it fast - the deadline is next Wednesday, February 22 at 12:00 noon.

The person who first submits the winning entry will win a $100 gift certificate to Soccer Atlanta.  Other rules:

• Unlimited entries - give us as many ideas as you can.

• We need a valid name, phone number, and email address in the submission.

• You must be affiliated with the club as a player, coach or family member, so give us your team name to confirm this.

• All we need is the name, but if you want to give an explanation of why this is the right name, please include it.

There are no restrictions on the name.  It can include elements of the clubs' past names, or it can be totally new.  It can reference a location, a professional team, a characteristic we should embody, something in nature, really, anything as long as it's clean.   We do have a few practical constraints we'd like you to consider in making your recommendation:

• It should be distinctively ours to avoid confusion - the name or initials shouldn't be the same as, or too similar to, that of any other Georgia club or major regional club.

• It has to indicate that we are a soccer club - Your choice as to whether that comes in the form of Soccer Club, Soccer Association, Futbol Club, or something else.  And that designation can come before the name or after.  Up to you.

• The name has to work as well for teenage R3PL players as it does for 4-year-olds just starting out, and for both boys and girls.

• Keep the initials in mind - for example, Soccer Club United Metro would be abbreviated as SCUM, which probably wouldn't be ideal.

• Think about the nickname - What will we all cheer from the sidelines?   Will there be a mascot?

Thanks, and let's see those creative juices flow.

The Board.