It’s hard to believe I disguised myself in a tiger costume for four years of my college career, but to be honest, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I have many great memories from being Clawz the tiger. Many great, sweaty memories.
A lot of people ask me how I booked the gig in the first place. I wish I could say I was recruited by a college scout who witnessed my impressive potential, but that wasn’t the case. The reality was that I had never been in a mascot uniform, and I had no idea what I was doing. Regardless, I showed interest, and that was enough for Campbellsville University to set up an interview with the cheer coach when I came and toured. To secure my chances, although it wasn’t necessary, I sent in a video of myself trying out for the part. The video consisted of me dancing around in a rubber horse mask and a CU t-shirt. Yes, it was as ridiculous as it sounds, but it got me the spot.
As Clawz the tiger, I had the privilege of attending all of the home football and basketball games. What made attending those games so fun was that I got to show up as a completely different person. I got to create the character and personality of Clawz the tiger, and the best part, nobody knew it was me. Which meant I got to act as ridiculous as I wanted to and not be embarrassed.
Nevertheless, embarrassment played a key role in my success as Clawz the tiger. After all, you have a lot more personalitywhen you’re not afraid to embarrass yourself. For instance, I remember running to the end zone during a football game and one of my feet falling off. Standing in the middle of the field, I grabbed the flag I was holding, covered my feet, and ran off the field as if nothing had happened. Moments like that truly showed me how to improvise.
I especially had to improvise when I interacted with kids who weren’t big fans of Clawz the tiger. Often, there wasn’t much I could do if a kid was afraid of me. Even so, I did my best to put a smile on every face, whether I was playing peek-a-boo or shaking my tail. Some of my most fond memories as Clawz are from interacting with children. The pure joy and excitement they displayed when seeing me gave me enough energy to be in that mascot uniform on the hottest days.
Though they were some of the hottest days, football game days were my favorite. The best part was getting to hype everyone up before the game. I started my own tradition of coming out with the marching band as they made their way down to the middle of the plaza. While marching with the band, I passionately played an inflatable saxophone, then jumped on a Ripstik and rode to join the rest of the crowd for party at the plaza. Dancing around and cheering alongside our marching band filled me with an indescribable amount of school spirit.
My first year as Clawz, one tradition that was passed down to me was the push-up board. Every time our team scored a touchdown, I would be lifted in the air on a plank by the cheer team. Then, based on the number of points we scored, I would do a corresponding number of push-ups. As you could imagine, this became increasingly difficult. Even if it was a game we weren’t scoring as much, I was still losing a lot of energy with how much I was sweating. It was definitely noticeable how much I was struggling trying to get those reps in. So really, it was probably best that tradition faded out. Nobody wants to see a tiger with bad push-up form.
Another struggle I had as Clawz would have to be the restricted visibility. To see straight, I had to bend my neck backwards to look out of the mouth hole. With the way the costume was designed, standing with a normal posture limited me to only seeing people’s knees and below. Needless to say, there were many games I saved myself the time by taking pain medicine beforehand. Even through all of the exhaustion and soreness, every game was well worth it.
While we’re on the topic of struggles, putting on that mascot uniform by myself had to be one of the hardest things. Luckily, I am double-jointed, so the challenge wasn’t impossible. But with all the layers I had on, it definitely felt like escaping a straitjacket at times. Thankfully, I always escaped. I’m even more thankful the zipper never got stuck.
One of the most intimidating yet comical memories I have during moments of pure exhaustion would have to be the breaks I took in between halves at basketball games. Conveniently enough, my break room was in a closet next to the visitors’ side locker room. I’m sure you could imagine all of the talk I heard from different opposing teams in both celebration and loss. With that being said, if you are a visiting team at Campbellsville University, remember the mascot is always listening.
As silly as it sounds, I learned many lessons being Clawz the tiger. The most important being to cherish every moment. Just like many other life experiences, college goes by fast, but what’s important is having the memories to look back on. I am blessed to have created many long-lasting memories in college like this one that will last a lifetime. For the next Clawz, here is a little future advice. Embrace the sweat, don’t be afraid to embarrass yourself, take breaks, hydrate and have fun. You’re going to do great out there!
