Mars Area High School’s athletic teams may soon have a mascot thanks to the efforts of several people associated with Mars Cheer Boosters.

Four potential designs for the school’s Fighting Planets were shown to the Mars Area School Board at its meeting Tuesday evening.

The project is in the ideation phase, Courtenay Carrel said at the meeting as she and the Mars Cheer Boosters presented the idea. They showed off four potential future mascots, all planet-themed.

The board members at the meeting chimed in too with ideas for how the mascot could look. The idea was received well, and the excitement around the topic was obvious.

Mascots aren’t a must. Clearly, Mars has made its way without one for this long.

However, mascots do bring value to the table. They help build the identity of the team and the school, and they promote student and audience interaction.

It’s worth noting the boosters have spent time getting in touch with collegiate spirit groups for inspiration, including the Toledo Rockets, who have a similarly space-themed mascot: Rocky the Rocket.

Further, recognizing the potential cost, the group has been saving up money to fund the mascot’s development, its costume cleaning and upkeep and more. The organizers have even considered how they’ll choose students to wear the costume.

It is clear that very deliberate thought has gone into this plan.

Whether Mars settles on a planet, an alien, an asteroid or something else, we look forward to learning which mascot may one day represent Mars sports teams.

— TL