RMC Paladins

The RMC Paladins are the athletic teams that represent Royal Military College of Canada in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Related Topics:
Royal Military College of Canada - Kingston, Ontario - Canada

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The Paladins compete in seven sports in the Ontario Universities Association (OUA):

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Basketball (M/W)

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Fencing (M/W)

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Hockey (M)

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Rugby (M)

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Soccer (M/W)

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Taekwondo (M/W)

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Volleyball (M/W)

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TEAM NICKNAME

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REDMEN to PALADINS

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Once RMC re-opened after WWII, varsity athletes representing RMC

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were proud to call themselves the Redmen in competition. It

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represented one of the most prevalent facets of RMC tradition, the

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wearing of the scarlet uniform on formal parades. Gentlemen cadets

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first took on the name because it was an all-male institution at the

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time and due to the red uniform, hence red-men. In 1996, women had

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been studying as RMC cadets for fifteen years so college authorities

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thought it was necessary to change the varsity title to something

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that was representative of the whole cadet wing. Furthermore, the college was receiving some criticism that Redmen was a derogatory

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name for Canada?s First Nation?s People.

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With the closure of Royal Roads Military College (RRMC) and College Militaire Royal (CMR) in 1995, RMC saw two more student bodies join the college. Because of a large induction of francophone students from CMR, RMC was transformed into a bilingual university. General (Gen) Charles Emond, the commandant at the time, decided that the Redmen was not a fit name for this bilingual and coed institution. Therefore he invited the cadets to choose a new name.

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Gen Emond set out very specific criterion for the Redmen?s replacement. He decreed that the new name had to be representative of the profession of arms; it had to be identified in two languages; it also had to be unisex and original. Furthermore, the name needed to be representative of a person, people or animal rather than an inanimate object. The logo associated with the name had to be simple and easily identifiable for the public. The new name should also be easily incorporated into college chants and songs.

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Various committees, composed of cadets and staff, came up with twenty-four new names for the varsity teams, such as the Cavaliers or the Red?s, the two most popular names were the Sabers and the Paladins. There was vote cast by the staff and students to decide on which of the three top choices would be the one. A committee of twenty-four people was established to advertise each of the proposed names. The committee held an electoral campaign of sorts where each name was given a logo and mascot to better relate to the college on what they were voting for.

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The whole process of finally choosing a name took two years to complete and as a result, the college was without a sports name for the 96/97 season. Finally in 1997 the Director of Cadets, Lieutenant Colonel (LCol) Michaud released the new name. All RMC representative sports teams would now be called the Paladins. The name Paladins had won by a landslide of 70% of the votes, it was also the only name that met the criteria demanded by Gen Emond.

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Since 1997, athletes of the Royal Military College of Canada have been known as the Paladins. Paladins were knights of the Crusades who modeled themselves as honest, courageous, loyal and chivalrous knights who prided themselves on their skill in battle.

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In 2002, Rear-Admiral David Morse, the commandant at the time, decided to change the logo to the crown and arm of RMC

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See also Canadian Interuniversity Sport.

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