With the Final Four for Men’s and Women’s NCAA Basketball this weekend, you may notice that one of the figures that gets a lot of attention, besides the coaches and players, is the team mascot. The role of being a team mascot for a college or pro sports team has become very important in how the organization’s brand is represented in front of thousands of viewers in person and on television.
Conventional wisdom would tell you the team mascot is all about creating excitement and fun for kids and the audience. Well yes...but it's a lot more than that. It is about the brand and creating an environment where customers enjoy being at the event.
And don’t think that being a mascot is not big business. As represented by the popularity of the San Diego Chicken, Ted Giannoulas created a persona that equals some of the most famous sports figures in the world.
The duties of mascot performers includes entertaining people of all ages, performing in front of large crowds, performing at special team events, performing at half time shows, maintaining the mascot costume such as cleaning, and working with management regarding merchandising and special promotion events.
A mascot must be a skilled and entertaining performer and have a high quality and vibrant costume. To be an effective mascot performer, one must have the following credentials: professional, dependable, good health, experienced, and well trained. Training curriculums include skills on performance techniques, costume maintenance, marketing and merchandising, facial expressions, proper dance methods, non verbal communications, costume repair, creating a mascot personality, working with children, how to react to a sudden injury, entertaining at special events such as charity functions, and much more. Training for mascots also include ideas on how to perform, promote and merchandise their products.
So if you aspire to be a mascot, and you feel you have the entertainment skills necessary, you may want to attend a training bootcamp for becoming a team mascot. The most respected and prestigious camp is run by Dave Raymond of the Raymond Entertainment Group.
For $400, you can join Raymond, one of the legends of the mascot world, and a team of skilled instructors for an intensive 3 three day training program. You can view a CNN video of the Mascot Training Bootcamp at http://video.aol.com/video-detail/mascot-boot-camp/3324858230. And check out the Mascot Hall of Fame. Here you can find more information about training bootcamps for mascots, as well as vote for your favorite mascot.
The bottom line, as represented by the fact that there is a bootcamp for mascots, is there is training available for almost any kind of skill you seek. And you have a skill that is sought after by others, creating a training business out of it is very much within reach.
Other Related Links:
http://www.raymondeg.com/
http://www.loonietimes.com/
http://letsgodu.blogspot.com/2009/03/du-student-to-attend-mascot-boot-camp.html
http://wfmz.com/view/?id=696529
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K02qTIUSi4
