Zoltan Berencsi is the Senior Producer of the World Famous Harlem Globetrotters and a Professional Mascot with over 20 years of experience performing for sports teams in the NBA, WNBA, NFL and NHL.
Better known for over 2 decades as Houston Rockets mascot “Clutch the Bear" a character he created in 1995 as well as having created YoUDee "The University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hen" in 1993 both of which are Mascot Hall of Fame Inductees.
Christopher Bruce has an extensive character performance background, having worked in almost every professional sports environment possible over the past 20 years. Chris is a proud alumni of the University of Delaware where he performed as the mascot, YoUDee, for 4 years and brought home the program's first ever Mascot National Championship in 2002. As the best friend of Reggy the Purple Party Dude, Chris has entertained in hundreds of stadiums and arenas throughout North America and worked alongside Dave Raymond contributing greatly to the origination and formation of the Mascot Hall of Fame itself. Beyond his work in sports entertainment, Chris owns and operated King Creative, a production company specializing in film, video and content development projects.
Jon Cudo was the original Timberwolves (NBA) mascot Crunch from 1989-1996. In 1996 Jon was a Producer, directer and performer at Nike Sports Entertainment. From 1998-2000 he performed as Spot the Fire Dog for the Portland Fire (WNBA) and then created and performed as the Cleveland Cavaliers official mascot Moondog for over 15 years. In addition he founded Mark Out Productions and the industry website Gameops.com in 1998.
Glenn Street is the Founder of Street Characters Inc. a leading creator and manufacturer of mascot costumes.
Glenn got his start in 1984 as Founding Chairman of the Mascot Committee of the iconic Calgary Stampede. Harry the Horse became instantly recognizable in the city of Calgary and Harry has traveled around the World promoting "The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth". Glenn is now an Honourary Life Director of the Calgary Stampede and he always looks forward to the annual Calgary Stampede, a festival that sees 1.2 Million Guests go through its turnstile over 10 days every July.
In the mid1980's Glenn joined a friend who had created and launched "Harvey the Hound", the mascot of the Calgary Flames and the first mascot in the NHL. The success of Harvey generated many inquiries from other teams who were looking to create their own character. To meet this demand Street Characters (mascots.com) was born in 1987 and has grown to have clients on every continent except Antarctica. Glenn is also the creator of Mascot U, the only Industry conference for the mascot community.
Glenn is a past President of the Entrepreneurs Organization (EO) Calgary Chapter and has Co-Chaired one of EO's most successful Global Conferences. Glenn won a Pinnacle Award for Business Excellence, and he and his wife, Peggy were named Philanthropists of the Year by the Cerebral Palsy Association of Alberta.
A native of Mahopac, NY, he is a 2006 graduate of the University of Hartford, in West Hartford CT. Joe has a BA in Psychology and Communications, with an emphasis in Advertising. Joe started his career in sports working for the Brockton Rox and continued his career working for the Hudson Valley Renegades, New Britain Rock Cats, and Joliet JackHammers, before coming to the Blackhawks in 2008. During his tenure with the Blackhawks he has led the revitalization of the mascot program, and in 2017, Tommy Hawk was inducted into the Mascot Hall of Fame and in 2019 was voted NHL Mascot of the Year.
Matt has been employed at Purdue Northwest in Hammond, IN since 2002.
Matt is the Assistant Athletic Director for facilities and is the Director of the Intramural Sports program taking the program over that had two intramurals to now over 40 with one of the most unique programs in the country offering not only the traditional sports like flag football, basketball and volleyball but the non-traditional/unique from baking, fishing, Intramural “Intra mural” contest (art contest), combat archery to ghost hunting
Matt is a native of the Whiting/Robertsdale community and has two sons, Devin and Dylan who love the Mascot Hall of Fame and the smoothies at the Wacky Snacks
Tim got his start in the mascot world in 1993 with Discovery Zone where he performed as Denver The Last Dinosaur. In '96 he joined the St. Louis Cardinals as Fredbird's very close friend and has been there for 24 seasons helping with skit ideas, crowd involvement, outside appearances, and costume management. In his spare time, he's been creating, designing, and making puppets of all kinds to be used in a kids show coming soon.
Joby performed as Joe Bear for Lenoir-Rhyne College and was the original Homer the Dragon for the Charlotte Knights. He helped the Charlotte Hornets for a spell as Hugo the Hornet, and was the original Dinger the Dinosaur for the Colorado Rockies.
Joby created COSMO the Sheepdog in 1997 who performs primarily at Special Olympics events and other charity events in Virginia. COSMO was retired in 2022 after 25 years of performing.
Al has been involved with the Mascot Hall of Fame since 2014. Prior to that, he spent 40 plus years in the steel industry, most recently as the Senior Director of Human Resources in facilities located in Birmingham, Alabama and Gary, Indiana. He is a graduate of DePaul University Law School in Chicago, Illinois. Al has always been active in community related activities. Most notably, he has been with Lake Area United Way for over 50 years and has served on its board of directors for many years. He also formed a charity amateur hockey team which contributed funds to the issues of breast cancer, women’s heart disease and lupus.
Al was the original Executive Director of the Mascot Hall of Fame during its construction phase. He’s also filled the roll of Director of Community Engagement for the facility and most happily fills the role of “Grandpa Mascot” whenever required.
He and his wife, Deb, have always been proud supporters of the Mascot Hall of Fame. They reside in Valparaiso, Indiana.
Kristen Jacob Smith, an avid fan of mascots, has had the opportunity and enjoyment of meeting hundreds of characters across the country as a 15-year employee at the NCAA. She serves as an Associate Director of Broadcast Services in the Championship and Alliances department, where she has witnessed mascots enhance both the student-athlete and fan experience at marquee Division I championships, including the Men’s and Women’s Final Fours, Men’s College World Series, Women’s Volleyball Championship, and Men’s and Women’s College Cups.
A native of Middletown, Connecticut, Smith is a proud graduate of the University of Connecticut. She resides in Brownsburg, Indiana, with her husband, Jeff, and three young sons, Jayden, Kaleb and Logan.
Bromley is known for being the creator, producer and a performer of The YoJo Show, which is a “Hilariously Educational” school assembly program that features a big, blue, wild and groovy character: YoJo!
Bromley created YoJo in March of 2000 and has performed over 4,000 shows to elementary schools all across America. Bromley also performed as a mascot for The Baltimore Orioles for 11 seasons, The Baltimore Ravens for 4 seasons, FIFA World Cup soccer in 1994, and “Clawed” the Eagle at American University in Washington, DC.
AJ Mass was the first Mr. Met in the mascot’s current incarnation, which the New York Mets brought back into the fold in 1994. He is the author of two books, including the go-to guide when it comes to the history of sports mascots in the United States, “Yes, It’s Hot in Here” and
“How Fantasy Sports Explains the World.”
AJ also starred in the Errol Morris-directed short film “Being Mr. Met,” an account of his time as the titular (snicker, snicker) major-league mascot. He also holds the record as the highest-scoring losing contestant in the history of MTV’s “Remote Control,” though he did successfully “Sing Along with Colin.” AJ has been a writer and editor of fantasy sports for ESPN.com since 2007. Twitter: @ajmass
Dan was selected the nation’s #1 college mascot at the 1989 National Collegiate Mascot Championships as the University of Missouri’s Truman Tiger. After a short time as the mascot for the St. Louis Cardinals he was offered the role of KC Wolf, the official mascot of the Kansas City Chiefs, in 1990. KC Wolf was inducted into the MHOF in 2006.
Todd “Parney” Parnell is a proud native of Locust, North Carolina, and has been in minor league baseball front offices for more than 30 years. Known for his larger-than-life personality, matched by his crazy, multi-colored pants, Parney has also gained a reputation for his passion for community and people. Parney is an executive for the Richmond Flying Squirrels and the Montgomery Biscuits, two franchises which are known for making a year-round impact on their communities, and the clubs’ mascots are a central part of their community outreach.
Dave is the original Phillie Phanatic and the founder of the Mascot Hall of Fame in 2005. Since being out of the costume, he partnered with the City of Whiting to build the MHOF its new home. As the nation’s leading market consultant for character branding on and off the field, court, or in the board room, Raymond generates The Power of Fun™ for over 250 sports teams and companies across the nation.
The "original" John Routh (pronounced Ruth but no relation to Babe) got his mascot start as the "original" Cocky at the University of South Carolina in 1980. Invited to perform at the College World Series (CWS) in 1981 & 1982, he met Coach Ron Fraser, the "Wizard of College Baseball" who brought him South to the University of Miami to perform as the only professional mascot in college athletics as the "original" Miami Maniac for Canes Baseball (1983-1993) and, to go along with his split personality, he would add the dual role of the football mascot Sebastian the Ibis (1984-1992). In 1993, he became the "original" Billy the Marlin for the Florida Marlins for ten years through the 2002 season. Along the way, John also appeared as characters Pat C. Gull for the New England Patriots (1991), Striker for USA Soccer (1994), and Hosty the Super Bear for the 1995 Miami Super Bowl.
During his career, Routh would perform as the "official" mascot of the CWS 11 times, in 17 countries worldwide, including 7 trips to Japan and numerous times in Europe, and 49 of the 50 United States. John has served as the "original" Executive Director of the University of Miami Sports Hall of Fame since 2009.
Jennifer Smith has been making mascots since before mascots were a “Thing”. Avant Garb began life in 1986 in her Berkeley, California garage. Avant Garb is a mascot design and production studio specializing in “small batch” mascots, generally 1 - 3 of the same mascot at a time. Clients include humongous tech companies, pharmaceuticals, health orgs, museums and, of course schools and pro-sports teams. Jennifer believes mascots could bring world peace. Their weapon is silly string.
Jennifer is not only involved in the creation of mascots, but she also sits as the President of the National Mascot Association.