The Man Who Named The Trash Pandas

MADISON- Matt Higley moved to the Huntsville area three and a half years ago and quickly fell in love with the rolling mountains, streaming waterways, kind financial environment and the fact his wife, Kerry, grew up in Madison where she graduated from Bob Jones High School in 2006. But, yet, for Higley, there was something missing.

Arriving in North Alabama from near Atlanta in the small town of Newnan, Ga., Higley was used to having a baseball game to attend as he was a frequent attendee of Atlanta Braves games for as long as he can remember. “I can’t imagine not going to a Braves’ game. When I came here and the Huntsville Stars vacated Huntsville, I had baseball withdrawals,” said Higley.

Once Madison announced the formation of a new minor league baseball team and a contest open to local residents to name the new Southern League franchise, Higley felt the excitement and the need to help name the new squad and to assist in welcoming the splendid sport back to North Alabama.

Within days of hearing of the team name contest, Higley, 32, submitted 15 different suggestions. Among those turned in for possible selection were the Trash Pandas, Moon Possums and Space Champs, all of which made the top 10 in the name voting. Higley felt the Trash Pandas was his favorite as he chose the name in regards to the facts the animal is abundant among the area and a more resilient and ingenious problem solver.

Higley played youth baseball in his hometown and switched to soccer in high school and even made his way to cross country running. Two days after high school graduation he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and was part of the organization’s reserves. He spent six years with the military raising to the rank of Corporal. He took a one year tour of duty in Iraq where he was a helicopter mechanic.

He eventually graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in finance and currently works as a program manager for SCI. He and Kerry have been married four years and have an adopted son, Duke, who is six months old. Kerry owns a recruiting company and has plans to be a co-owner of Southern Sensations Dance Studio where she currently is a dance instructor. They currently live in the small community of Lacey’s Spring just south of Huntsville and the Tennessee River.

Higley and his wife plan to move to Madison with the thoughts of raising their family and attending Trash Pandas games for a long time to come. “Yeah, I want my son to experience baseball similar to what I did,” added Higley.

At the team naming party on Sept. 5, Higley said he really expected for his team name to be voted as the top choice as, according to him, “There was a lot of attention on the Trash Pandas name and excitement surrounding that unusual name.”

Higley added, “I think it was the best name and the community will get behind it, just because of the name.”

Higley said he never had any sort of personal experience or contact with a raccoon until the day the new team announced the top 10 names as voted on by the local community. On his way to work that morning a raccoon suddenly ran out in front of his car in the middle of the road.

“I swerved my car to miss the animal. That’s when I felt the team name would be named after the animal I nearly killed. It was meant to be,” said Higley. “As for the team name- I was dead serious about it despite the abnormal name and the many people who voiced their displeasure of the Trash Pandas, the slang name for a raccoon.”