An Ancaster athlete is making waves in an unusual profession and you may have even seen some of his skills already if you’ve watched a Hamilton Tiger-Cats game this season.
Twenty-year-old Cory Field is a mascot on the rise, moving up the ranks as one of North America’s youngest professional mascots.
He first put his college’s mascot costume on as sort of a dare.
“I went to a basketball game one time…and as a joke, I went up to the athletic director…and he said sure. I thought it was one game, but he wanted me to do it the whole two years,” Field said.
And his mascot career took off from there.
Field was on a baseball scholarship in Utica, New York, and enrolled in the school’s theatre program. His flair for dramatics led to him winning a local mascot popularity contest.
“And then a few weeks later I was in the gym with my buddies…and I got a call from a New Jersey number…it was the Devils calling saying we have a game for our minor league team…we’ll pick you up in ten minutes….and I think that’s where everything really started,” Field said.
He’s just signed a seven-month contract to be Naudie – the Utica Comets mascot, the New Jersey Devils farm team.
Field is also one of the mascots for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
“I was Stripes at the beginning of the season…and shifting towards TC…I do some games and events…it’s pretty cool.”
Field was asked to mascot for the Boston Red Sox this summer, but couldn’t because he was playing baseball for the Brantford Red Sox.
But going forward, he says baseball will take a back seat to mascotting…because he has one goal in mind.
“Early retirement…mascotting is a good way to do that…there’s not one mascot in the NBA not making triple digits in a yearly salary.”
In fact, some NBA mascots make more than $600,000 a year, but Field says it’s a lot of hard work.
“I don’t want people thinking you’re just walking the aisle waving your hand…you get sick afterward…you have to be an athlete…if fans aren’t entertained…you’re not doing the job properly.”
Field says just like in professional sports, if you’re not good enough, the team will replace you.
