The Norte Vista High School Braves will soon become the Toros.
The Riverside high school will begin changing its mascot, logo, athletic uniforms and other campus imagery from the Braves to the Toros, the Spanish word for bulls.
Its longtime logos included a Native American bust wearing a headdress, or the interlocked letters “NV” with a spear, feathers and a tomahawk. The changes start next school year.
The news comes after passage of the California Racial Mascots Act, which prohibits public schools from using derogatory Native American terms or imagery as a school or athletic team name, mascot or nickname unless the campus is run by a Native American tribe or tribal organization. The law takes effect July 1.
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A mural showing a Native American person inside the gym at Norte Vista High School in Riverside, was painted over in September 2022. (Courtesy of Ron Main)
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A mural showing a Native American person inside the gym at Norte Vista High School in Riverside, was painted over in September 2022. (Courtesy of Ron Main)
Over the years, several attempts to change the mascot have been made by community members and students in the Corona-based Alvord Unified School District, which covers the western Riverside area and part of northeast Corona. Many have argued that past mascots and images were offensive and promoted racial stereotypes of Native Americans.
Now, a notice on the high school website declares: “A new chapter begins — introducing the Novi Toros!”
“While we will respectfully retire our original imagery at the end of this school year, this new identity reflects our ‘Culture of Caring’ and the unified spirit of Norte Vista High School.”
Also, the district’s Arizona Middle School Apaches — also in Riverside — will become the Huskies, Alvord officials confirmed this week.
The California mascots law was co-authored by Assemblymember James Ramos, D-Highland, a member of the Serrano/Cahuilla tribe, who had pushed for school districts to form task forces with tribes to create diverse, historically accurate curriculum and for tribes to discuss their concerns.
It followed a 2021 incident in which a Riverside Unified School District teacher was videotaped in class imitating Native American stereotypes.
Across the nation, some professional sports teams have rebranded — like the NFL’s Washington Commanders, who had been the Redskins. Some, like hockey’s Chicago Blackhawks or baseball’s Atlanta Braves, have not changed names. In the Inland Empire, Alta Loma High School in Rancho Cucamonga also changed its mascot — from the Braves to the Lions — in early 2025 after the law passed.
At Norte Vista, most of the tomahawk and spear logos and imagery, including a mural featuring a Native American in full dress and holding a tomahawk inside the gym, were removed in the past few years.
Davion Reliford, a 16-year-old junior football player, said Friday, March 6, that he’s “excited” to finally have a school mascot, and was “very happy” with the change.
“I would have been fine with any new mascot,” he said. “And a mascot is going to bring school spirit, too.”
Reliford said he’s been envious seeing other schools’ mascots at games and on T-shirts. Now his school will get to do the same.
Liliana Rubalcava, 17, who is graduating this year, said she she was upset to hear that the Braves name would be retired. Five older siblings graduated from Norte Vista as Braves, so it’s a tradition, she said.
“We haven’t had the actual mascot for awhile, before it was a Native American,” Rubalcava said. “But it’s pretty much just been the name the last couple of years, and the name was pretty nice.”
Principal Jason Marquez said in a Thursday, Feb. 5, email that the “milestone represents a meaningful opportunity to honor the school’s rich history while embracing an exciting new chapter for our students, staff and community.”
Norte Vista, located in Riverside’s Arlanza neighborhood, had a Latino population of 91% in 2024-25. The city has a nearly 55% Hispanic or Latino population, about 175,000 residents, according to city data.
The school’s student-run news website, The Bullseye, reported in a Feb. 25 post that the new nickname “is an animal that honors Hispanic cultural roots, with a focus on family, pride, and ‘the herd’ mentality, as well as core themes of strength and legacy.”
Changing the mascot took years, from forming a task force of Alvord community members, alumni, staff and students, to a campus-wide poll that drew hundreds of responses in fall. At first, there were hundreds of choices, then a list of 16 that was narrowed to three finalists: the Toros, the Knights and the Raptors.
A committee whittled down the top choices for a final vote Feb. 11 and 12.
The next steps, set to occur through the July 1 deadline, will include a logo design and a mascot “reveal” in May, said Krista Fairley, Alvord’s assistant superintendent for the educational services.
Brooklyn Marcial, a 17-year-old junior who is the yearbook editor and sat on the mascot selection committee, welcomes the new identity.
Having a person as a mascot seemed “really weird,” Marcial said, and not representative of the whole school, while an animal mascot is a more “inclusive” concept.
“I really think it’s especially inclusive being the Toros, like Spanish for bull,” she said, citing the huge number of Latinos on campus and in the community.
A bull is headstrong and will blend with the school colors, Marcial said. Also, bulls have a “herd mentality” that she felt will be a great ways to unite the school.
“So I think it’s a good change,” she added. “And it was about time.”
Moving away from the Braves earned mixed reactions from some Norte Vista alums, who said that they will always be Braves.
K.R. “Zack” Earp — a 1966 Norte Vista graduate who became a longtime Alvord school board member that got the campus stadium named for him — remembers voting on the Braves mascot in the 1960s.
Earp was initially “shocked” when he heard the gym mural was painted over in 2022, after mascot discussions began in 2020. Soon after, imagery on uniforms and helmets changed. He joined the new mascot selection committee after studying the issue.
“At first, it was, like, ‘Why is this happening so soon?’ Suddenly there’s a law — and boom, bang, we gotta do this. I cried a little bit. It still kind of hurt,” Earp said. “… I’m still a Norte Vista Brave. The mascot is changing, but not the name of the high school.”
“Native Americans need to be respected, but our curriculum needs to teach that respect,” Earp said. “White culture is often taking away Native American lands — that’s why our name is disappearing.”
Earp said he liked the Toros name and respects students’ decision.
“You can take away the Braves, but I’ll always be a Brave,” he said. “That’s our high school. But they’ll live with it. And for others it might be a while to come around, but I trust they will.”
Henry James Vásquez, retired chairman of the Native American Community Council of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, said he was “all in favor” of changing such mascots and respecting — not appropriating — Indigenous history and culture.
He recalled a 2001 incident at Norte Vista in which a Native American student was barred from attaching an eagle feather to her graduation cap’s tassel. School officials at the time said they feared that breaking dress code could open the door to an irreverent ceremony.
“Frequently, school boards and team owners tell us that they are honoring Native Americans with Indian mascots, even the grotesque caricatures,” Vásquez said. “When the Native community explains that we don’t feel honored by having teams, logos and mascots depicting Indians on clothing and other merchandise, those in power get angry. They tell us that they can’t understand why we don’t accept the honor that they’re giving us.”
Norte Vista football coach Ken Batdorf, who has taught on campus since 1994, said he was “disappointed” with the name change at first, but aims to make the transition “as positive as we can.”
“… I have to come out to and come out with new stuff to say to my players, like, ‘You’re a Toro, you have to run with the herd …’” Batdorf said. “I’ve had kids on my team who were American Indians who’ve loved being Braves, and others I understand who didn’t like it. It’s just one of those things — we didn’t make the decision, so somebody else did it for us. In life, that happens.”
“There’s not a lot of Toros in the CIF Southern Section,” Batdorf said. “I do like being different.”
Batdorf pledged to — if approved by school officials — buy a real bull to have on campus. He hopes to name it “Brave.”
“I like the idea of trying to keep some of the Brave history alive,” he said.
