Love them or hate them, a school\’s mascot is deeply imbedded in it\’s high school sports tradition. They\’ve been around almost as long as the games have been and they\’re going anywhere. In fact, the high school mascot is becoming more dynamic and present at prep sport events than ever before. Some schools are even turning their mascots into games on campus. So let\’s take off the hood of your local mascot and see what\’s under there.

Pretty much every high school has a mascot. Some of them are pretty common such as Chiefs or Warriors while others are pretty strange on the surface of it. I remember the Tustin Tillers. Really…Tillers? That doesn\’t exactly foster fear in the eyes of the opponent. Granted, the Orange County used to be farm land but do we really have to take things so literally. A little poetic license is even required at the high school mascot level. Some schools have dedicated people that wear the mascot outfits or suits. It does them disrespect to call it a costume as some of the mascots really get into it and take their job seriously. So you go from having no one in costume to full blown mascots that are literally performing during half time. We\’ve seen mascots doing the trampoline dunks to those that taunt the opponent\’s mascot on the sidelines. It really comes down to the creativity or brazenness of the actual mascot not to mention what the school will allow. Of course, there\’s a line and occasionally, the high school mascots goes over it.

I think it\’s safe to say that mascot on mascot violence is not called for even if the fans love it. Of course, you could have two rival mascots coordinate before the game to stage some mock battles but that\’s pretty different from when a full size eagle pile drives the dancing tiger from behind. Not cool, Mascot. Bad Eagle! You also don\’t want the fans to assault or physically injure the school mascot. Keep in mind that there\’s a student inside of that big shark costume. No matter how obnoxious, he or she is, it\’s just not cool to physically injure them and you\’ll get into serious trouble.

The school mascot is usually tied to the spirit or cheer squad if loosely. This makes sense since their role is to fire up the home team and they are usually court side or on the field sidelines. You\’ll generally see them at the bigger sporting events like high school football or basketball games. The newest trend to capture pictures of them around campus and anywhere for that matter. It\’s similar to the traveling gnome gig where you try to take impromptu pictures of the mascot with you and your friends in the background. The stranger the locations, the more style points you get for the photo although let\’s give the guy some privacy at the local Del Taco bathroom. Keep in mind that it takes a certain kind of personality to want don a big, furry suit in from of other people even if their identity is hidden. We\’re not sure you want to mess too much with that KIND of person.

Author Bio: Dennis Jarvis writes about the world of Prep Sports including high school sports such as high school football, basketball, and baseball.

Category: Sports
Keywords: football interceptions, high school sports, high school football, prep football, prep sports