Sep 11, 2003 By Dave Zuchowski For The 6 min read

Of all the things Dr. Roy Yarbrough has accomplished in his life and career, the one that you’d least expect is currently getting him the most renown. Serving as program director of Sport Management Studies at California University of Pennsylvania, Yarbrough, 55, was an AAU-All American in track and field through the sport of race walking and was sanctioned by the US Coast Guard to compete on the U.S. Olympic Track Team.

He’s refereed three state championship soccer games in Illinois, Virginia and Alaska, and, in 1990, had the honor of being inducted into the USA Soccer Hall of Fame. He retired from the U.S. Coast Guard as a Lt. Commander serving his country for 26 years in the active and reserve programs.

One tour of duty included the assignment of Operations Officer for Western Alaska for the Exxon Valdez oil spill clean up. For eight years, he served on the summer orientation staff at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, training incoming cadets in the area of physical fitness. Yet for all his accomplishments, holding the unofficial title of the world’s preeminent mascot guru is the one that’s really getting him the most name recognition.

Five years ago, “The History of Senior College and University Mascots/Nicknames,” a book it took Yarbrough three years to research, was published. It was the launching pad that eventually led to appearances on radio talk shows, serving as a consultant for mascot camps and authors of mascot-related magazine and newspaper articles, and being selected as one of five judges on the panel that helped choose the twelve All-American team of mascots two years running.

“Picking the All-American winners from a list of about 240 colleges and universities open only to Division 1A and 1-AA schools took us about two days of watching videos of the character mascots, reading their bios and looking at their community service work portfolio,” said Yarbrough.

“We each made a “blind” list of who we thought belonged in the top 12, compared our selections and arrived at a consensus. The selection process is very secretive, and we take a lot of pride in the judging process.”

The top 12 mascot winners are each awarded $5,000 in prize money and get to go on to compete for the title “Mascot of the Year,” an honorarium that earns the title holder another $10,000. The votes of the five panelists, which include the original Phillie Phanatic, Dave Raymond, account for only 50 percent of the total count. The other half comes from online votes from the public, who can access the candidates’ photos and other appropriate information at www.capitalbowlone.com.

“Last year, we had close to 30 million votes for Mascot of the Year,” said Yarbrough, who makes his own personal choice based on the way the mascot excites the crowd, their spontaneity and the magic they create.

This year’s finalists include Cocky (South Carolina), Chip (Colorado), Hairy Dawg (Georgia), Harry the Husky (Washington), Aubie (Auburn), Monte (Montana), Scratch (Kentucky), Brutus Buckeye (Ohio State), Smokey (Tennessee), Albert (Florida) Big Red (Western Kentucky) and YoUDee (Delaware). Online voting will take place till sometime in December, and the winner will be announced at the Capital One Bowl (formerly the Orange Bowl) on Jan. 1, 2004.

“Last year’s winner, Monte, was very acrobatic,” said Yarbrough. “He stood on his head and even ‘surfed.’ However, not all the mascots have costumes that lend themselves to such agility.”

Yarbrough believes he was picked as a judge because he’s worked as a mascot consultant for ESPN and ABC Sports and because of his expertise in the field of mascot history, much of which he came by while writing his book.

An article in the May 18 edition of “Sports Illustrated” certainly helped boost his credentials. His mascot career, though, took a blow when his interview on “CNN Live’ Aug. 13 was pre-empted by Arnold Schwarzenegger.

“I got terminated by the Terminator,” laughs Yarbrough. “Three minutes before air time, I discovered I was pre-empted by the Arnold Schwarzenegger press conference in which he discussed his economic policies. I’m told my ‘CNN Live’ interview has been rescheduled for sometime in October.”

Born and raised in Vandalia, Ill., Yarbrough participated in high school basketball and field and track. At Greenville College in Greenville, Ill., his sports involvement focused on soccer and track, but he always managed to attend the school’s basketball games.

“My interest in mascots came about in college. One day, Greenville’s basketball coach approached me and asked if I might like to rouse the crowd a bit by coming up with a Panther costume and acting as the school’s mascot,” said Yarbrough. “My mother made the costume, rough by today’s standards, and I included a photo of it in my book’s Acknowledgment section.”

Yarbrough has only a few dozen copies of “The History of Senior College and University Mascots/Nicknames” left. However, the hefty 330-page book, which sells for $24.95, plus shipping and handling, can still be ordered online at www.sportsbooksempire.com.

Yarbrough is working on a revision, which he hopes to have on the market in time for the Christmas holidays. The new edition will include approximately 750 new community college mascots as well as updated information on the mascots listed in the first release.

Because of a lack in a central training facility for potential mascots, Yarbrough is working on establishing a mascot academy, where neophytes can be trained on safety considerations, proper nutrition and fitness, problems with dehydration, sight limitations and the care of equipment and costumes.

“Some mascots are just youngsters who are put inside a costume for eight hours at a time with no concern for matters like claustrophobia and movement impairment,” he said. “Many people are unaware of the fact that some of the costumes, especially the inflatables, can restrict your movement to a large extent.”

Yarbrough is working with two mascot costume manufacturers to interest them in associating with his proposed academy.

Both already have mascot camps, but Yarbrough said he would like to get them together at some neutral site to produce a corps of certified mascots. The academy could then be contacted by a whole range of organizations, such as home shows, conventions, circuses, county fairs, and rodeos who might like to “rent” a professional, certified mascot for their event.

At the moment, however, Yarbrough seems quite content with his job as director of Cal’s Sport Management Studies.

“I love sports, and, in my current position, get to talk a lot about the subject,” he said. “I consider myself a most unlikely person to have graduated from college, let alone hold a doctorate degree. When I look back on everything, however, I consider myself truly blessed.”

Yarbrough resides in California with his wife Claudia and son Nate and daughter-in-law Kate. Another son Luke and daughter-in-law Laci live in St. Petersburg, Fla., while his daughter Jenny, son-in-law Scott Johnson, granddaughter Mattie, and grandson Gabe live in Lynchburg, Va.