Throughout all of Aliso Niguel’s various school spirit events, including sports games and pep rallies, they all share one commonality: Wally the Wolverine.
The Aliso Niguel school mascot excites students and brings energy to various events such as football games. He is one of the prime contributors to the atmosphere of the school’s award-winning student section as the school mascot, unfailingly present to rile up students in favor of the school.
However, who carries the mantle and responsibility of representing the school as the Aliso Niguel mascot? Part of the power of Wally the Wolverine remains in his anonymity, and no student knows exactly how many Wolverines are really behind the mask.
To sign up to perform as the mascot for different events, a student only needs to go to the ASB director, Mrs. Ross, and ask for the forms and to act as the mascot for the night.
One of the anonymous students behind Wally the Wolverine says, “When I put on the mask I feel like Batman.”
The appeal of playing the part of the wolverine could be an enjoyment in acting and being part of creating greater school spirit. However, it could also be a sense of pride in the school and wanting to represent it well.
Wally the Wolverine has remained constant throughout the school’s history, as the school mascot has always been a wolverine since its opening in 1993.
Since the creation of a person to wear the wolverine costume, the appearance of the mascot in life has remained the same as well.
The most notable events that the mascot performs at are the football games, wich are arguably most spirited and attended events at the school. Aliso’s student section has won the Orange County Student Section contests multiple times.
The varsity home football games are the most prevalent, but the mascot is also present at games for other sports among various events in need of crowd encouragement.
Jayme Chen (12), an ASB student, says, “I think that the mascot is very good at hyping up the student section and raising the energy level in the crowd.”
The evident resulting successes are likely the reason why the Wolverine has not been changed and continues to be sent out at home sporting events. If anything, Wally the Wolverine is only getting more time in representing the school, having been spotted at basketball and other games as well.
The history of the school mascot dates back to before its opening in 1993. When the school opened, the middle school students who were soon to attend Aliso Niguel voted on the school mascot and colors.
The ultimate decision was made to be the Wolverines with colors of teal, black, and white.
Since then, all of the sports teams at Aliso have been called the Wolverines and other associated names for different extracurriculars, leading the student section to be the Den. The newspaper is also known as the Growling Wolverine, a reflection of the mascot that distinguishes Aliso Niguel.
