FREEBURG, Ill. (AP) — A national group that represents people with dwarfism wants an Illinois high school and a half-dozen other high schools nationwide that call their sports teams “midgets” to drop a nickname they say is offensive.

The Little People of America has asked Freeburg High School in southern Illinois to phase out the nickname within two years and to stop selling “Midget” merchandise to people from outside the community 25 miles east of St. Louis.

The group hopes to persuade other schools in Iowa, Missouri, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin to do the same.

Freeburg’s superintendent says the name is a source of civic pride and not meant to be derogatory. City lore traces the nickname to long-ago squads that beat much larger opponents.