by Barbara Drake (MFA ’04)

Last month, we went behind the scenes with UF student-mascots from years gone by, to find out what it’s really like being Albert and Alberta.

In part 2 of our exclusive series, Friends of the Gators — as they are known — share five more secrets about being the nation’s No. 1 college mascots.

1. Mascots Have to Audition

Being a Friend of the Gators involves more than just clowning around.

Prospective student-mascots must be accepted for the fall semester or currently enrolled at UF with a GPA of 2.5 or better, among other criteria. Tryouts are held each spring, and even returning mascots must reaudition for their spots.

The competitive process includes in-person interviews and an opportunity to perform, dance, walk in the suit and learn what it takes to be a mascot.

Albert and Alberta in the Swamp in 2022. Credit: AlbertaTheGator on Instagram

Among those judging the 20 or so applicants each year is Cortnee Gilchrist (BSR ’06), assistant director of the Spirit Teams. “The mascot program is looking for students who are in touch with who Albert and Alberta are, who love Florida Athletics and who know what it takes to engage with our fan base,” she explained in a recent interview.

“Being creative and in tune with social trends also plays a big role,” she added. “We want team members that like to have fun, be silly and aren’t afraid to put themselves out there when trying new things.”

2. Talking Isn’t a Thing

Like other schools’ mascots, Albert and Alberta never talk in public. This rule enables multiple students to take on the same role without the distraction of changing voices. Plus, it keeps students’ identities secret.

Instead, student-mascots become masters of hand gestures, the Chomp and exaggerated physical humor. They also have to learn how to move and stand as their character, and, yes, Albert’s and Alberta’s signature moves are distinct from one another, explained Kourtney LaPlant (DPH ‘06), an early 2000s Alberta.

Kourtney didn’t offer specifics, but fans will notice that Alberta will typically point upward with her index finger, put a hand on one hip, fan her skirt or cover her mouth with her clawed hands (which now sport bright red talons that visually pop in photos.)

Future husband and wife Brian and Kourtney LaPlant practice as student-mascots in 2005. Credit: The LaPlants

Kourtney played Alberta alongside her future husband, Brian LaPlant (BA ’04, MED ’05, EDS ‘16), as Albert, from 2002 to 2005. Lovebirds in real life, they developed a nonverbal system to communicate privately while in the public eye.

“We had hand signals to communicate what we were going to do, like a squeeze that meant it was time to go …,” said Kourtney.
“… or, ‘I’m about to pass out,’” laughed Brian.

3. They Have No Peripheral Vision

Seeing and moving inside the costume is challenging, especially for new student-mascots, interviewees told us. Early suit models bordered on hazardous.

Steve Rogers (BA ’91) reports that he and fellow wearers of the first plush Albert costume, in the 1980s and early ‘90s, could only see through the gator’s narrow hinged mouth.

Made of vinyl, the first Albert costume (1970-1978) was based on the cartoon character Pogo. Wearers could only see through the mouth. Credit: Independent Florida Alligator.

“Because of how the head was positioned, I was mainly looking down and had to arch my back significantly just to see what was straight in front of me,” Rogers remembered.

“People loved when I put the stuffed animal mascot for the opposing team in Albert’s mouth,” he added. “But doing that completely blocked my vision.”

Subsequent mascots have peered through mesh strips in the jaw, through tiny eyeholes and, since 2015, thorough mesh eye-slots. Lack of peripheral vision plagues all who don the gator head.

“If people were coming at you from far enough away, you could see them coming,” recalled Brian LaPlant of his days in the suit. “But there were times when you’d get grabbed from behind or on the side…”

“…or worse, from behind!” added Kourtney LaPlant.

Mascots must take care not to trip over bleachers and fans – or injure VIPS with their flailing appendages.

“My first official appearance was Coach Spurrier’s farewell banquet [Jan. 7, 2002],” Brian LaPlant said. “I distinctly remember bopping him in the head with my snout.”

4. They Can Get Really Hurt

College and professional sports mascots occasionally get injured in the line of duty.

Sometimes they get tackled by overenthusiastic youth football players. Or get accidentally run over by an ESPN TV cart during Egg Bowl. And there’s the time the Colorado Buffaloes’ mascot blasted a T-shirt gun into his groin.

Poe, the mascot of the Baltimore Ravens, is carted off at halftime after an injury on Aug. 28, 2011. Credit: Associated Press

But in the annals of UF mascots, it’s typically the rival fans that inflict the damage, unfortunately.

Anonymous UF mascots told the Tampa Bay Times in March 2003 of several violent incidents at away games.

“In Tallahassee once, two male FSU cheerleaders ‘bum-rushed’ an Albert, knocking his head off and spraining his ankle,” wrote the reporter. “At [the University of] Kentucky, two Wildcats mascots body-slammed an Albert, who injured his knee.”

Some unhinged fans have even stooped so low as to attack Alberta, including two FSU supporters who punched the female mascot in the head, the story detailed.

Sadly, 1997-2000-era Alberta Sabrina Saucier (BSPR ’00) endured a similar assault in September 1998, at a game against Kentucky in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. She told us of being viciously attacked while in costume by several Wildcats fans, an incident corroborated by two letter writers to the Independent Florida Alligator.

Saucier pressed charges, and two of the attackers were permanently banned from the Swamp, she told us.

She urges sports fans to resist dehumanizing their own or other teams’ mascots, which makes them more prone to becoming targets of physical violence.

“People need to understand that there is a real, young student behind the mascots,” she said. “They are student-athletes and real human beings that love this university and are proud to represent UF as the beloved Albert and Alberta.”

Thankfully, new procedures are in place to ensure that Albert and Alberta are kept safe, notes Gilchrist. Handlers now accompany the mascots at most appearances, guiding them through crowds and making sure that fans are respectful.

“The handlers’ main concerns are caring for our mascots and ensuring that fans have a great interaction,” she says.

5. Being a Mascot Never Leaves Them

Former mascots say they form unique bonds with other Friends of the Gator, even from afar.

Charlie Newton crowd-surfs as Albert at a home game against New Mexico State, Sept. 5, 2015. Credit: Charlie Newton

“It’s been 23 years since I graduated and wore Alberta’s feet across the graduation stage,” said Saucier, now an assistant director at UF’s Disability Resource Center. “I am proud to see other UF mascots and feel a kindred spirit to them.”

Now a metallurgical engineer with the U.S. Navy, Charlie Newton (MSMSE ’16), who was Albert from 2013 to 2016, echoes the sentiment: “I feel proud when I see others in the role. They are quite literally filling big shoes, and they’re doing a phenomenal job.”

“I miss being a mascot, but I don’t wish I could do it again,” he added. “I’m enjoying my retirement.”

For some who serve as Albert or Alberta, the extroverted role can be a launching pad for careers in sports or in the public eye.

Ellis Cunningham revealed his secret identity when UF posted a photo of his Albert feet on its Twitter feed in December 2019.

Ellis Cunningham (BSBA ’19) drew inspiration from his senior year as Albert to pursue a master’s in sports marketing; he’s now assistant brand manager at Feld Entertainment, a live-show production company.

From commanding Florida Field in 1989-1991, Rogers went on to earn a law degree and serve as assistant state attorney; he now presides as circuit county court judge of Marion County.

He says the perks of being Albert lingered long after he hung up the plush suit.

“It was a great icebreaker on every job interview I’ve ever had,” he said, “So many times I would be asked, ‘To heck with your GPA and work experience, what was it like being the Gator?’

“Plus, it’s always fun to meet someone who claims to be ‘the biggest Gator fan’ and then respond with, ‘Oh yeah, well, I was Albert.’”