How to Find Mascot Performers for Your College or University

You have the mascot suit. You have games on the calendar. You have appearances already being requested.

There’s just one problem:

You need someone inside the suit.

Finding reliable mascot performers can be surprisingly difficult for college spirit programs. Unlike cheer or dance, students may not even realize mascotting is an opportunity—or they may assume they need years of experience before trying out.

If you’re a spirit squad coach, athletic administrator, marketing director, or mascot program coordinator, here are some practical ways to recruit students, find hidden talent on campus, and build a reliable mascot team.

First: Don’t Look Only for Experienced Mascots

One of the biggest mistakes you can make when recruiting a college mascot is assuming you need someone who has already been a mascot.

Previous experience is great.

But plenty of talented students have never put on a mascot suit.

Instead, look for people who are:

Energetic
Creative
Comfortable performing
Reliable
Coachable
Physically capable of performing in costume
Good at improvisation
Comfortable interacting with strangers
Willing to look a little ridiculous

You can teach someone mascot techniques.

It’s much harder to teach someone to genuinely enjoy entertaining people.

1. Recruit From Your Existing Spirit Squad

Your cheer and dance programs are an obvious place to start.

These students already understand:

School spirit. Game-day environments. Crowd engagement. Athletics. Practices. Travel. Representing the university.

Some may even be interested in performing as the mascot occasionally while continuing their primary spirit squad responsibilities.

However, don’t stop there.

Some of your best potential mascot performers may have absolutely nothing to do with your current spirit program.

2. Ask Theater and Performing Arts Students

Your university’s theater department can be a gold mine for mascot recruiting.

Mascotting involves many of the same skills as acting:

Character development
Physical comedy
Improvisation
Storytelling
Audience interaction
Exaggerated movement

There’s one major difference:

You don’t get to talk.

Reach out to theater professors, improv clubs, acting programs, and student theater organizations.

You might find someone who loves performing but has never considered becoming a mascot.

3. Recruit From Student Clubs

Send your mascot opportunity to student organizations across campus.

Don’t limit yourself to obvious performance groups.

Consider reaching out to:

Student government
Theater clubs
Improv groups
Dance clubs
Marketing clubs
Sports clubs
Recreation programs
Student activities
Fraternities and sororities
Campus ambassador programs

Ask club advisors to share the opportunity with their students.

Sometimes all it takes is one message:

“We’re looking for students interested in performing as the university mascot. No previous mascot experience is required.”

You may be surprised who responds.

4. Use Your University’s Social Media

Your mascot probably already has some visibility on campus.

Use it.

Create a simple graphic:

WANT TO BE [MASCOT NAME]?

Then explain:

Mascot performers wanted. No experience necessary. Training provided.

Share it through:

Athletics Instagram
University Instagram
Spirit squad accounts
Mascot social accounts
Student life
Campus recreation
Facebook
TikTok
Campus newsletters

Even better, show students what the experience actually looks like.

Post clips of the mascot running onto the court, interacting with fans, traveling, performing skits, or attending community events.

You’re not simply recruiting someone to wear a costume.

You’re selling an experience.

5. Ask Current and Former Mascots for Referrals

The mascot community can be surprisingly connected.

If you already have one performer, ask:

“Do you know anyone who would be good at this?”

Current performers may know classmates, friends, former high school mascots, entertainers, or other students who would never apply on their own.

Former performers can also be extremely helpful.

They understand what makes someone successful inside the suit and may still have connections to the university or broader mascot community.

6. Contact Local High School Mascot Programs

This is one of the most overlooked recruiting strategies.

Every year, high school mascot performers graduate.

And then what?

Many have no idea that they can continue mascotting in college.

Reach out to high school cheer coaches, spirit advisors, athletic departments, and mascot coaches in your region.

Tell them:

“If you have graduating mascot performers attending our university next year, we’d love to meet them.”

Over time, you could create an actual recruiting pipeline.

Instead of starting from scratch every year, graduating high school mascots begin to see your university as their next opportunity.

7. Post the Position Like a Real Job

If you’re struggling to find performers, stop treating mascot recruiting like a secret club.

Create an actual position description.

Include:

Responsibilities

Games, community appearances, campus events, promotional activities, practices, and other mascot responsibilities.

Qualifications

Energy, reliability, creativity, physical performance ability, professionalism, and willingness to learn.

Compensation

If performers receive scholarships, hourly pay, stipends, tuition assistance, apparel, travel opportunities, or other benefits, say so clearly.

Time Commitment

Students need to know what they’re signing up for.

Experience

If previous mascot experience isn’t required, explicitly say:

No previous mascot experience necessary. Training provided.

That one sentence could dramatically increase your applicant pool.

8. Make the Opportunity Sound Fun

College students have plenty competing for their time.

Why should they become the mascot?

Tell them.

Depending on your program, performers may get opportunities to:

Perform at games

Travel with athletics

Attend tournaments

Meet athletes and coaches

Participate in community events

Create social media content

Develop skits

Perform in front of thousands of people

Build professional entertainment experience

Represent their university

And, perhaps most importantly, create moments that fans remember.

Show prospective performers what they’ll actually get from joining the program.

9. Hold an Open Mascot Workshop Before Tryouts

Some students might be interested but terrified to audition.

They’ve never worn a mascot suit before.

They don’t know what they’ll be asked to do.

So remove some of that uncertainty.

Host a:

“Try Being the Mascot” Night

Let interested students learn basic mascot techniques before officially auditioning.

Teach:

Character walks
Poses
Body language
Crowd interaction
Improv
Basic skits
Costume safety

Then let them try the suit.

Someone who walks into the workshop thinking:

“This could be funny.”

might leave thinking:

“I HAVE to do this.”

You’ve just created a potential performer.

10. Don’t Recruit Only One Mascot Performer

You found someone.

Great!

Now find another.

Relying on one student for every basketball game, volleyball match, soccer game, community appearance, donor event, school visit, and campus activity is a recipe for burnout.

Students also have:

Classes. Exams. Jobs. Families. Internships. Vacations. And occasionally a desire to sleep.

Whenever possible, build a mascot team rather than depending entirely on one person.

For example:

Primary Performer

Handles major games and appearances.

Secondary Performer

Shares games and community appearances.

Backup Performer

Available when scheduling conflicts occur.

Larger programs may need significantly more performers.

The goal is consistency without exhausting your best student.

How Many Mascot Performers Does a University Need?

There’s no universal number.

It depends on how active your mascot program is.

Program Activity	Possible Performer Need
Limited games and appearances	1–2 performers
Active athletics program	2–4 performers
Frequent campus/community events	3–5+ performers
Highly active mascot brand	Dedicated performer team

Instead of asking:

“How many mascot performers should we have?”

Ask:

“How many appearances are we expecting one student to realistically cover?”

That will give you a much better answer.

What Should You Look for During Mascot Tryouts?

Once you’ve recruited candidates, don’t judge them entirely on dancing ability.

Look for:

Skill	What You’re Looking For
Character	Can they become someone other than themselves?
Movement	Are gestures large and readable?
Creativity	Can they generate entertaining ideas?
Improv	Can they react when something unexpected happens?
Crowd Interaction	Do they naturally connect with people?
Coachability	Can they take feedback and immediately adjust?
Reliability	Can you trust them to show up?
Professionalism	Can they appropriately represent the university?

You can improve someone’s mascot technique through coaching.

Reliability and attitude are much harder to fix.

Build a Program Students Want to Join

Recruitment isn’t only about finding students.

It’s also about retaining them.

If students love performing but constantly feel overlooked, unsupported, overworked, or disconnected from the spirit program, they’ll eventually leave.

Give mascot performers opportunities to contribute creatively.

Ask for their skit ideas.

Include them in spirit program activities.

Provide feedback.

Recognize their work internally even when their public identity remains protected.

Invest in their development.

The stronger the experience becomes, the easier recruiting becomes.

Your current performers will start recruiting the next generation for you.

What If You Still Can’t Find a Mascot Performer?

Expand your search.

Talk to athletics.

Talk to student life.

Talk to theater.

Talk to marketing.

Talk to recreation.

Talk to former mascots.

Talk to nearby schools.

And reach outside your campus.

The mascot community includes current and former performers throughout the country, and many performers are constantly looking for new opportunities.

That’s one of the reasons Get My Mascot is building its mascot community and job resources.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do colleges find mascot performers?

Colleges can recruit through spirit squads, theater programs, student organizations, campus social media, athletics, student life, local high schools, referrals from former mascots, and public mascot job listings.

Do college mascot performers need previous experience?

Not necessarily. Previous experience can help, but character development, creativity, reliability, improvisation, physical performance, and coachability can be more important. New performers can learn mascot-specific techniques through training.

Should college mascots have multiple performers?

For active programs, having multiple trained performers can make scheduling easier and reduce burnout. The appropriate number depends on games, community appearances, campus events, travel, and other mascot responsibilities.

How do you hold mascot tryouts?

Mascot tryouts can include character walks, poses, dancing, improvisation, crowd-interaction scenarios, prop work, skits, interviews, and in-costume exercises. Candidates should also be evaluated on reliability, professionalism, and coachability.

Where can universities post mascot jobs?

Universities can advertise through their own employment systems, athletics and spirit channels, campus organizations, social media, and specialized mascot communities and job resources such as Get My Mascot.

Looking for Your Next Mascot Performer?

If you’re a spirit squad coach, athletics department, university, or mascot program struggling to find performers, Get My Mascot wants to make that process easier.

You can use Get My Mascot Job Listings to put your opportunity in front of people specifically interested in mascot performing.

And if you’ve already found students but need help getting them ready, explore Mascot Coaching to connect with experienced current and former mascots who can help with performer training, character development, auditions, skits, crowd interaction, and program building.

You’ve already got the suit.

Now let’s find the right person to bring it to life.