Unmasking Tuffy… Lowe sees Cyclone sports from a different set of eyes
Published 1:27 am Saturday, September 28, 2019
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Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Tuffy shows off his muscles playfully but in actuality Jaiden Lowe says that the job as a mascot is physically and mentally demanding especially when it comes to doing flips in the costume and the heat aspect.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Coming out from the mask, Jaiden Lowe says that the honor to be the mascot for Elizabethton High School has been a true blessing and hopes that someone else will pick up the mask to carry it forth for future Cyclones.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Tuffy the Cyclone a.k.a. Jaiden Lowe leads the Cyclone senior football players as they go to a local elementary school for a pep rally.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Jaiden Lowe has become accustomed to falling in behind the 'Betsy Band as Tuffy when they enter the stadium for the first time on game nights.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Lowe has always been a great ambassador for Elizabethton High School and is always a crowd favorite. Here Tuffy bust out a dance move on Thursday's visit to Westside Elementary as part of Homecoming week for the Cyclones.
Star Photo/Ivan Sanders Tuffy has always had a great relationship with the younger fans who seek him out to get a high five or maybe snap a photo or two.
BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR STAFF
Whether it’s running through the helmet, making a tumbling run, or greeting youngsters as they enter the stadium, more than likely anyone attending an Elizabethton Cyclone football or basketball game will see a familiar figure decked out in school colors attempting to fire up the fans and cheer their team on to victory.
That character is Tuffy the Cyclone and many may not know who the figure is but its time to take off the mask and meet the young man who for the last four years has brought pep, excitement, and screams of joys to hundreds who have flocked to Cyclone athletic events.
Elizabethton senior Jaiden Lowe entered Elizabethton High School as a freshman without any intention of being anything other than just another student. However, at the nudging of his grandmother, Lowe started a journey that started as a roller coaster ride.
“When I went to the athletic director’s office, they said they hadn’t had a Tuffy in like 10 years or so,” Lowe reflected back to that first meeting. “My nana was the one who made the suit. She was like we have a new stadium and we have all this new nice stuff but that she felt like they were missing a mascot.
“That’s when I had to start working out both physically and mentally to be prepared because you are representing the school and you have to have a professional, respectful attitude towards kids and fans.”
Lowe would be the first to admit that the journey was like riding a horse and wagon over a road filled with rocks than cruising down a freshly paved highway.
Part of that had to do with the fact that a mascot had not been on the scene at football games in quite a while and the students and fans didn’t really know how to react to Tuffy.
Obviously, the younger kids immediately developed a fever of wanting to be around Lowe in his Tuffy outfit but it took almost a year to get the student section and fans attending the games to fall in love with Tuffy.
When taking on the role of the school’s mascot, Lowe relayed that the reasoning behind his decision to pursue Tuffy was not to draw attention to himself but in humility help to lift the spirit of those around him that may have been suffering through a trying time by bringing a smile.
“It’s always been about others for me,” Lowe said. “Some people know that I am Tuffy, but I don’t want it to be about me. When they see Tuffy, I want them to see a kind person and a kind soul that just wants to keep everybody excited and pumped up about our school spirit and our school sports.
“Somebody can come into the football stadium or the gym and maybe have had a bad day or be going through so much and it could be people of all ages and just being able to give them that fist bump or high five can mean a lot.”
Just because he is a student doesn’t mean that his life has been without its issues, and during those times the encouragement of others around him with maybe a high five, a pat on the back, or possibly a hug changed Lowe’s perspective on the life going on around him.
For that reason, Lowe admitted that if he had touched just one life in the four years that he has put into being Tuffy, then the hard work and dedication was worth it.
Becoming Tuffy wasn’t an easy endeavor as the training and preparation was very demanding, especially just dealing with the mascot attire itself.
“It was difficult physically because it was so hot in there the first year where I wasn’t acclimated to that heat,” Lowe stated. “There is about a 15-degree difference in the head and the temperature outside so if its 85 degrees outside, it’s about 100 degrees in there.
“Getting used to that was pretty hard. Learning how to do the flips and cheers was another part of it. I had to go to cheer practice and in fact, I still go to cheer practice with the cheerleaders just so I can stay used to the cheers and the flips and the goofiness that is Tuffy.”
There were times early on that Lowe considered packing away Tuffy for good, but his perseverance paid off the further that he got involved with every aspect that is required to be a mascot.
“Throughout the years I have found it has gotten easier for me,” Lowe said in reflecting back to the earlier days. “During my freshman year, I got a little discouraged because it took a really long time to get the student section pumped up and they would kind of look at Tuffy, lift an eyebrow, and say who is that guy.
“During that time it was very discouraging to me because I started to put on the suit and I would sit there and think for a minute, “Why am I doing this,” and sometimes I would say what is the point because nobody seemed to like Tuffy except the little kids.”
One of the things that Lowe discovered with time is how much he enjoys seeing the reaction of children when he comes on the scene. On Friday nights, one might think that Tuffy was a Hollywood movie star with all the shouts that echo from the stands from the gleeful children.
And in some sense of the word, he has become a celebrity especially to the younger fans and old alike.
“I thought that if I don’t do this there will be so many people that I have an opportunity to touch and be there for and not only that but the little kids have been one of my favorite parts just running and screaming up to me like Tuffy, Tuffy,” stated Lowe.
“They give you hugs and high fives and they take pictures. I swear, I have taken five million pictures in the last four years and that’s okay because that’s one of my favorite parts.”
With it being Lowe’s senior year, there is concern if anyone will step forth and have an interest in taking on the role of Tuffy.
Lowe certainly hopes so because he feels that Tuffy is as much a part of EHS athletics and events as the teams that he cheers on.
“I feel like it is of utmost importance because as Tuffy you represent the spirit of the school and the school itself,” said Lowe. “It has to be a person with good ethics and good morals and has to be able to do those flips and stuff like that too.
“It’s not for everybody- it’s for select people. I am not saying that I am somebody special, I want somebody that is a lot more qualified than I was and still am to do it.
“I want somebody that can get even more excited than I am when we score touchdowns and goals and things like that.”
Lowe went on to openly admit that there were times that he wished he had put more into the role and it is something that he particular isn’t happy about.
“I want whoever replaces me to be better than I have been because there have been times that I haven’t done my best and I regret that very badly,” commented Lowe. “It’s important that we continue this tradition.”
One thing that being Tuffy has done for Lowe is it has given him experience that hopefully can translate into an opportunity at the collegiate level to represent another institution of higher learning be it a community college mascot or representing a major university.
“I have talked to a few people about it,” Lowe added. “A lady at the school board said there are full-ride opportunities at colleges for things like being a mascot. I want to carry that spirit on. Being a Cyclone has been a blessing to me.
“Going away to the college level is more bitter than sweet, but I want to know when I leave that I have put people in the position to take over and be Tuffy. I hope we have to have tryouts to find out who is going to be Tuffy.”
And while the future may be on his mind, Lowe still has at least five more football games left plus the playoffs and then it’s off to basketball as he continues to exude the spirit and pride of being an Elizabethton Cyclone.
