MASCOTS ADD SPIRIT TO SPORTS

John Snider, looking for a new activity during his senior year at Cape Girardeau Central High School, found his place in a tiger costume.

Snider is one of several students who dresses as the Central Tiger to help boost school spirit during football and basketball games and wrestling matches.

The first time Snider wore the costume was during the big game against rivals -- the Jackson, Mo., Indians.

"It was tough to learn the cheers during the game, but everybody loves you, especially the kids," Snider said.

Lauren Lee, another Central tiger mascot, said talking and playing with the kids "is always the best. They always ask if they can pet your tail."

School mascots range from the Red Devils at Chaffee, Mo., to the Whippets at Ellington, Mo., but whatever their names, they help build school pride and solidify a school's identity.

"You can tell a difference when he's not there," Annita Layton said of Paws, the bulldog mascot for Notre Dame Regional High School.

Paws is a popular attraction at Notre Dame games after an absence of several years. The school mascot was revived last year and named this year. He even has his own theme song: "Who let the dogs out?"

Paws is present at all home games, school assemblies "and anywhere we think he might ought to be," Layton said. He's walked with school groups in two Cape Girardeau parades this school year.

"He's popular with younger kids," said Layton, head of the student life committee at the school. "He gets out and acts silly, and it's fun for the kids."

Students volunteer for the role as Paws and "get to take on a whole new persona," Layton said. "You never really know who's in there."

At Central it's no secret who has the most school spirit. Nearly everyone would agree it's Athletic Director Terry Kitchen.

"We wouldn't be as pumped up before games without him," Snider said.

But Kitchen says he thinks the Tiger has the most school spirit. "People are looking for somebody else that's got the courage and the guts to cheer and clap their hands and move a little bit," he said. "They're looking for that leadership. And sometimes when you've got that tiger and he's looking around and moving, it's contagious. I'd sure miss him if he was gone."

And with all the distractions of part-time jobs, community sports and outside competitions, there is a lot of school spirit in Cape Girardeau, said Dr. Dan Steska, superintendent of schools.

Cape students paint tiger stripes on their faces, wear school colors and join in rousing "It's Tiger Time" chants to show their spirit at sporting events and band competitions.

"If you ask some of the elementary kids 'What time is it?,' they reply 'It's tiger time,'" said Steska.

There has been a departure from students joining pep club and riding the bus to games. "That's eroded the traditional idea of pep clubs and school spirit," he said.

Yet teachers, students and parents in Cape Girardeau have worked hard to build morale and boost school pride. Instead of a mascot for every elementary building, Cape Girardeau moved to a districtwide mascot when Steska took office.

"Some people have had a hard time letting go to that nostalgic feeling," he said, "but as more students get used to it they all think of themselves as tigers."

While the only tigers you'll find locally are the Central tigers, many area schools share mascot names. The Indians can be found in Jackson, at St. Vincent High School in Perryville, Mo., and Puxico, Mo.

Several schools have mascots named for big cats, like the Delta, Mo., Bobcats and the Fredericktown, Mo., Black Cats. Some school mascots are named for birds found in Missouri like cardinals, eagles or hawks.

SOME MASCOT FACTS

* Southeast Missouri State University considered in 1996 changing its mascot from an Indian to an eagle and then a sun. However, the proposal never gained enough support from students, alumni and university boosters to make the change.

* In 1922, Chaffee, Mo., changed its mascot from the Bulldogs to the Red Devils after being defeated by Mexico, Mo. -- a team dressed in bright red uniforms -- in the state finals. Chaffee dubbed Mexico's players as red devils and, after reflecting upon the merits of that team, decided to change their names to the Red Devils.

ON THE NET

Cavalcade of Mascots:

www.baylor.edu/~Larry_Frazier/mascot.htm

This site offers expanations for how some school mascots came into being, and definitions of what they are.

MSE Pro Mascots: www.promascot.com

This web site is maintained by a professional mascot for several minor league hockey and baseball teams. The site explains what mascots should know and how to enroll in a new mascot training course.