Responsible Office: Athletics
Policy Administrator: VP for Student Development
Scope: |Student

Approved By: VP/Provost

Approved Date: 7/1/2017

Effective Date: 7/1/2017

Category: Intercollegiate Athletics

Description/Purpose:

History of the Red Flash

Details:

The University athletic nickname is the Red Flash. One of the most commonly asked questions about Saint Francis University athletics program is Why the Red Flash?

The answer dates back to 1927 when the school boasted one of the fastest football ground attacks in the east, headed by quarterback George Kunzler, captain and right halfback Ed McLister, fullback Alphonse Abels and left halfback Ralph Bruno. Because the team wore predominantly red uniforms, the fans and The Loretto (the student newspaper) dubbed the team The Red Flashes. The nickname quickly spread, first to the football team and later that same season to the basketball team.

Within 15 years, The Red Flashes evolved into the present form of The Red Flash, through the efforts of Sports Publicist Simon Cy Bender. Before The Red Flashes romped on the football field, the school's teams went by a variety of unofficial nicknames, with the most popular being the Saints. Others were derived from a Franciscan theme, such as the Franciscans and Frannies. The most popular unofficial nickname also evolved from the Franciscan theme, with its origins dating back to the 1930s.

The nickname Frankies can be traced as far back as the 1938-39 basketball season when the name first appeared in The Loretto and the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat. The rise of this nickname can be closely tied to the University's Mr. Frankie Award, awarded annually to an outstanding senior male, which dates to 1936. The Frankies nickname gained widespread use by fans and the then-College but was discontinued after the 1971-72 season, giving way to the current Red Flash moniker. The change coincided with the opening of the Maurice Stokes Athletics Center.

Saint Francis athletics tradition dates back to 1867 when a group of students formed a team called the Independent Star-Athletic Association. The team played its first game under the Saint Francis banner in 1888. Gymnastics was established in 1882, while football was first played at SFU in 1892. Basketball arrived on the Loretto campus during the 1905-06 academic year. Saint Francis College was renamed Saint Francis University in 2001.