That would be the common thought. However, we want folks to know we are not a top competitive clan. And frankly WSL was and is a very easy name to recruit for. The catchy spam slogans just roll off the tongue, and got attention in pubs.
Noobs we had just gotten started when we had problems. So it is hard to know how it would have played. But you essentially need a catchy name to get folks' attention. When WSL started, you may recall it had the most boring name on the planet--new player training or something. We switched it to wsl and grew in no time. Flip found more players than we could handle in the first week.
Our slogans tend to aim for the newer player's state of mind. They know they are not ready for a top clan. We offer them a chance at an organized second-tier clan.
So perhaps it is a case of counter-intuitive thinking. So far it worked.
Another factor is that we really don't want folks who are ashamed of being in a training clan. If they have a problem with that, they can go to a competitive clan and see if they make it. If they do they don't need us. And if they don't...well...now they know they are a noob
And then there are those who just like the atmosphere. To them the name is secondary.