FACULTY 2022
Mystery Mascot Performer, NHL
This Speaker is currently performing in the NHL.
While their team won’t allow us to divulge who it is, we can say they are a part of one of the most innovative and talked about mascot programs not just in the NHL, but all of Professional Sports..
Come find out how this mascot program is able to garner so much publicity for their Team!
Spencer S. Assistant Director
Spencer S. is a current Assistant Director for a professional sports team. His 14 years of professional experience, spanning across two different leagues was brought on by his cheerleading, gymnastics and performing arts background. Spencer works with one of the most beloved mascot programs in professional sports!
Bob Woolf Phoenix Suns Gorilla
A former Arizona State gymnast, Bob Woolf performed as the Gorilla of the Phoenix Suns from 1988 to 2021.
He was the first NBA mascot to dunk off a mini trampoline, the first to dunk through a ring of fire, the first to ride a Harley on the court, first to use videotaped skits, and first to dunk after being catapulted from the three-point line.
Wes Lockard Burnie, Miami Heat Duncan, New Jersey Nets
Everything Wes Lockard does is centered around FUN!
As Wes explains: “I lead the league for many years by averaging 5 vendor raids per night and sits on 51 ppg (people per game). My all time record still stands in steals with 12 purses and 8 shoes per outing.”
Jon Cudo Minnesota Timberwolves, Nike, Portland Fire, Cleveland Cavaliers
Jon Cudo began his career in sports entertainment with the expansion Minnesota Timberwolves (NBA) in 1989. The Minnesota native performed as the Wolves mascot Crunch for the first seven years of the franchise. Over the next 20 years Jon has performed in over 42 states, in ten countries, for over twenty million fans. During his travels he realized that great ideas in game entertainment happen at all levels of sports and many work in different sports, which was the impetus for Gameops.com years later.
In 1996 Jon moved to Oregon to work with a new division of Nike, Nike Sports Entertainment. There he produced, directed and performed at numerous events around the world. In 1998 created Mark Out Productions along with the resource website Gameops.com. Jon performed as Spot the Fire Dog for the Portland Fire (WNBA) from 2000-2003. He later created and performed as the Cleveland Cavaliers official mascot Moondog spanning 20 years. Cudo now manages Gameops.com and all its content.
Trent Coots
Trent Coots mascot journey began in 2004 during his freshman year of college. Based off of his girlfriend’s (current wife) wise advice, he auditioned to be Sammy Bearkat for SHSU when he wasn’t able to get cast in any theatre productions his freshman year. He was part of the 2005 mascot champion team that brought home SHSU’s first title. Since then, he has brought his theatre background and passion to the sports and corporate world.
He had his first professional sports mascoting taste in 2008 when he was hired as the Houston Comets Mascot Haley for their final year. From there, he was hired in 2010 as the Houston Dynamo Mascot Diesel and has been performing as Diesel ever since.
All of this occurred in tandem to his full-time roles and schooling. Trent held various youth development and membership roles with the YMCA in 2006. In 2015, he received his MBA from Texas Woman’s University (yes Woman’s) and transitioned into the business side of the medical field as an Administrative Supervisor for Pediatric Cardiology for Texas Children’s Hospital & Baylor. He transitioned into the Facility Management field in 2019 and now manages 11 different Buildings (Over 750,000 square feet) for Boeing throughout the US.
Ryan Hughes
Coming from “THE” Mascot U, Ryan graduated ranked 2nd in the nation portraying YoUDee his senior year in 1999… only losing to Aubie (who probably cheated aka Bill Belicheck in Super Bowl 39).
Having to follow the incredible shoes of one Robert Boudwin, Ryan took the torch and kept trying to raise the bar while being the first Freshman-Senior mascot performer in University of Delaware history. But he didn’t get there all by himself; with the gracious help of then current professional mascots, Ryan built his network and still remains close to many that either still perform, or have “hung up the fur” for one reason or the other.
After having an amazing 12 year career with the Philadelphia Eagles performing as SWOOP from 1999-2011 he made the decision to follow his other passion and move to Napa to follow his dream of working in the Wine Industry. Currently he is the Senior Estate Manager of the Spire Collection within the Jackson Family Portfolio of wine. Let’s be honest… he really has never had a ‘real job’ ever; and HIGHLY recommends you follow him on Twitter and IG under WineMascot.
Glenn Street, Dean of Mascot U, Top Dog at Street Characters Inc., "Harvey the Hound" (NHL)
Glenn performed as “Harvey the Hound”, the first mascot in the National
Hockey League and one of the first mascots in Professional Sports.
While performing as Harvey, Glenn found many Teams were calling him
asking where they could get their own mascot. There wasn’t anyone Glenn
could recommend, and with so many calls coming in Glenn Founded Street
Characters in 1987.
Since then Street Characters has become the leading provider of
characters in the sports industry. Today, Street Characters ships
characters around the World with Clients on every Continent except
Antarctica!
Glenn came up with the concept of Mascot U recognizing there are no real opportunities for Mascot Performers and Administrators to learn and share their knowledge with each other, except at the Pro Team level, and even then meetings only happen within each League.
Robert Boudwin, Associate Dean, "Clutch" (NBA), Creator of "Newton, Houston's Smartest Dragon"
For over two decades Robert Boudwin was better known as Houston Rockets mascot “Clutch the Bear,” which was a character he created in 1995. In addition to performing at over 1,500 games and 6,000 appearances he is an accomplished brand builder, marketer, coach, children’s author of 7 books, and producer of critically acclaimed school shows reaching over 1.2 million students having performed over 1,750 shows.
Robert has also inspired tens of thousands as a public speaker through his motivational “SMILES” presentation. Boudwin was a 2006 inductee into the Mascot Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility, 2 time NBA Mascot of the Year, a Houston Chronicle Hometown Hero, and has received countless other industry and civic awards, but is most thankful for all the amazing Houstonians who have welcomed him into their hearts over the past 21 years at Rockets games and events across the city and around the world.
In 2009, his short story, “A Clutch Win,” was published in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Inside Basketball. In the summer of 2016 Robert opened his own Marketing Consulting & Public Speaking Practice and as of recent has just launched his own mascot Newton “Houston’s Smartest Dragon” available for “eductainment” at elementary schools across the city. Boudwin also volunteers and speaks for 9 non-profits, 5 of which he sits on the board for, but is best know for his work with organ donation awareness. He resides in Spring with his wife Amy & 5 children including 2 sets of twins.
Kyle Hamsher
Kyle Hamsher is a sports entertainment specialist and performance artist with a career spanning over two decades across minor league baseball, arena football, the NHL, and the MLB where he currently serves as the Senior Manager of Entertainment Marketing for the Houston Astros. His list of accolades includes two back-to-back GameOps.com “Best Of” awards, two back-to-back “Camp Champ” awards from the Universal Cheerleaders Association, two GIBBY (“Greatness In Baseball”) nominations by MLB.com, being named to the “All South” team in Southern Living Magazine, four “Best Of” awards from the Arena Football 2 league, and 3rd place in his 8th grade talent show. His work has been featured on just about every sports media outlet in the country – including ESPN, MLB Network, Barstool Sports, FOX Sports, CBS Sports, SB Nation, Yahoo! Sports, The Huffington Post, USA Today, E! Online, MTV, GQ Magazine, and the front cover of a Japanese newspaper. He currently resides in quiet suburbs of Houston with his wife, four children, two fish, and a partridge in a pear tree.