You could name mascot for 2010 IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships

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By Brent Mazerolle
Times & Transcript Staff

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Schoolchildren at Riverview's Frank L. Bowser School and Cocagne's Ecole Blanche Bourgeois got the first look yesterday at someone we will all get to know very well in the next year.

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Greg Agnew

Ethan Downing, a student at Frank L. Bowser School in Riverview, gets a big hug yesterday from the mascot of the 2010 World Junior Track & Field championships.

He's the as-yet-unnamed mascot of the 2010 IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships being hosted in Moncton next year.

And that's where the kids at those schools and the rest of you kids of all ages come in, finding a name for this cuddly little... er, really big mascot, but more about that later.

Standing more than two metres or about seven feet in height, the International Association of Athletics Federations' mascot is a big boy indeed, but that didn't keep hundreds of little boys and girls from embracing him yesterday.

At Frank L. Bowser, his debutante ball as it were, the mascot was met with enthusiastic applause and was still high-fiving the masses long after the special assembly to greet him was over.

Mascot -- please folks, name him soon so we all have something else to call him -- symbolizes much about Moncton and New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada and Canada hosting the 2010 international games, the largest athletic event ever hosted in the region.

His smile and open arms reflect the warm welcome and friendliness Maritimers are expected to show their guests from 170 countries next July.

The animal's coat of many colours include those found in the flags of Canada, New Brunswick, the City of Moncton and two universities that will host the athletes next July, l'Université de Moncton and Mount Allison University.

The star on one of his paws is a nod to l'Acadie. The other represents the fact the games will feature the rising stars of the track and field world -- many of those who compete in Moncton next year will be the athletics stars of the 2012 Olympics in London. He's also suitably sleek and robust. You won't find a fitter critter anywhere.

All entries in the name the mascot contest, sponsored by the Times & Transcript, must be received by May 27 at noon. The winning name must be one that can be easily pronounced in English and French.

Though the contest was kicked off with schoolchildren, it is open to people of all ages. The winner will be announced at a ceremony June 1. The person who submits the winning entry will receive a family pass (four tickets) for all the events at the track and field championships.

Carol Davis, vice-principal at Frank L. Bowser, got a good laugh from the adults with the bilingual quintessentially Canadian pun she rattled off the top of her head as she addressed almost 400 schoolchildren, teachers and visiting grown-ups yesterday.

"How about 'Eh'-toile?" she suggested, inspired by the star on the mascot's paws, ('étoile' in French) and the fact we're all Canadians, eh.

Though that is arguably an early favourite in the voting, there is surely plenty of room for more ideas to be heard, which is why you should fill out the ballot in today's Times & Transcript.

One of our own Olympic stars, runner Joel Bourgeois, was on hand to introduce the mascot to the students yesterday.

Joel told the kindergarten-to-Grade 5 students at Frank L. he was just a fifth grader when he first took up running as a way to spend more time with his father, who had just taken up the activity as an adult. Before long, he was competing and growing stronger. Soon he was the fastest boy in New Brunswick and by 17 he was the best young runner in Canada. At 19 he competed in the IAAF World Junior Track and Field Championships and by 25 he was an Olympian, competing in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000.

The time to chase something you want is now, he told the kids, "you're allowed to start dreaming."

While Joel made it clear he meant they should pursue their dreams whatever they might be, he did speak about the particular greatness and inclusiveness of athletics.

"Track and field is three things and three things only, running, jumping and throwing. It's something all of you do all the time already," Joel told the kids at Frank L. "It's the most basic sport in the world, and that's why everyone in the world does it."

And as the countdown to 2010 starts to get this generation and the next excited about athletics, now's the time for you to take part in the legacy of Moncton hosting the world. The mascot is going to be a big part of that. Imagine if he bore your name...