On Friday, Sept. 12, a lion was spotted in a sea of red white and blue at Piedmont’s first home football game. A big paw welcomed students and families to the game, led the crowd in cheers, and posed for pictures to commemorate the night.
“I think I’m just excited to be able to provide something that everybody can rally around and can get some good school spirit going,” the mascot said.
The mascot said they were not expecting to be carrying out the role inside the costume but had originally just wanted to offer up the idea of creating a mascot for PHS.
“Originally I was just coming up with the idea but Dr. Yoshihara emailed me back almost immediately saying that it’s a great idea and that it should be me,” the mascot said.
The mascot said the design process was really fun because they were able to see their vision evolve and come to life.
“We were going to make the mascot a real highlander, like an old man with a big beard, and somewhere along the process we transitioned to a lion,” the mascot said, “I think it could have been fun to see an old man dancing on the court but I’m excited about the lion as well.”
With the finalized costume the mascot was able to make their debut at the first assembly of the year and again at the first home football game on Friday, Sep. 12. Although students such as senior Cassie Colby said the presence of the mascot at the football game brought up the energy, the mascot said the experience wasn’t all fun.
“It was probably one of the most stressful experiences I’ve been in, ” said the mascot. “It was also so hot. I was wearing an ice vest that was pretty uncomfortable. There is also a fan in the head that broke halfway through the second quarter and that’s when it really started to get hot.”
After the game the mascot said they were literally drenched in sweat
“It was so hot that afterwards I looked like I was drenched in sweat”
Regardless of the uncomfortable conditions the mascot said that it was worth it.
“So many people wanted to take photos with me. I felt so famous.” the mascot said.
The anonymity of the role brought an interesting realization to the face behind the mask.
“I realized how different people treated me when they don’t know who I am,” the mascot said.
The identity of the mascot may become harder to uncover as the school searches for more volunteers, which would mean the person behind the mask could be different each game. Regardless of who gets to put on the costume before the games, our current mascot has one mission in mind.
“Our job is to bring the spirit, it would be cool if the mascot, whether it’s me or someone else, can be the figure that hypes everyone up.”
