A Look At the Cougar Mascot Experience

With the return to live games and spectatorship, 1 of the staple features of football games is seeing the Cougar mascot raising school spirit and interacting with the crowd. However, the Cougar itself maintains elusivity, as many students don’t know who the mascot is or how students can become a mascot.

Senior Annie Cimperman was asked to be the mascot when a shortage of student volunteers occurred. “It was my responsibility to get [the costume] back from the person who was [the mascot] last year, and then [my class] just kind of volunteered me to do it and told me to do it…So basically we’ll just ask our [Leadership] class if they know anyone who’d be willing to [be the mascot], and I’d go around asking friends if they’d want to do it and then they volunteer and then I’d give them the costume. So it’s just sort of a volunteer basis,” said Cimperman.

Senior Caroline Fitzpatrick had mixed feelings about her time as the mascot, “I didn’t really know what to do because this was my 1st football game of the year, so I forgot what football games were like and therefore, [what] the role of a mascot [was like]. So I just stood up there. And I tried being like, ‘Yeah, woohoo,’ but no one can hear you. You’re in the costume. So I had my arm gestures going. But it was stressful and I didn’t know what I was doing. So I changed out of it after 10 minutes.”

Senior Julien Welch had a different experience. “It was pretty hot and sweaty in there, but overall [I] got a lot of hype from the crowd. It was pretty fun,” said Welch. “And during the time I went all out I went with the cheerleaders as well [and] in the crowd, everything like that.”

While the legend of the mascot goes that the costume smells terrible, Cimperman and Fitzpatrick’s opinions differ.

“It’s really really hot in there, and it smells bad and it’s really sweaty, but it was fun, it kept you warm. It’s cold at night…It’s fun, it’s a good experience to have,” Cimperman commented.

Fitzpatrick said, “Everyone said that it smelled bad and was really itchy, but maybe I just had a clogged up nose, but I didn’t think it smelled. I mean it was obviously uncomfortable but it wasn’t unbearable.”

“[Being the mascot is] not for everybody because it’s not really comfortable to be in there. But if you’re interested in doing it, [do it] for sure,” said Welch.

For students who want to flaunt some school spirit as the mascot, Cimperman said, “[The process of becoming mascot is] informal. We’re thinking of making a signup sheet for people who want to do it because after I did it, there [were] a lot of people who didn’t know that I was available to be the mascot and so we’re trying to keep it upperclassmen just so they have a chance to do it.”

Fitzpatrick added, “I really enjoyed my 10 minutes being the mascot. Ever since I was a kid, I was fascinated. I was like, ‘Who is the mascot? Who is the cougar?’ And then that was me for 10 minutes. And so I experienced it, probably will never do it again. But it was alright. It was fun.”