Getting Rowdy with Detrick Bombarger

From nervous eighth grader to confident senior, Detrick Bombarger has slowly become a very important member of his high school’s athletic program. Although he has been to almost every football game, most basketball and volleyball games and countless other school sporting events including an annual golf tournament since 2011, most people can’t remember actually seeing him at the games.

This is because Bombarger watches the games through two net covered eyeholes in Rowdy the Ranger’s oversized head and decked out in a full cowboy outfit, complete with chaps and a giant cowboy hat. He is the school mascot, a job that has been his for four consecutive years.

Due to health reasons, Bombarger was never allowed to participate in any contact sports but his desire to find a place on the team drove him to get creative. Becoming the team’s mascot seemed like the perfect solution. It allowed him to be a part of something even if he couldn’t join the team. He auditioned by performing an original skit and was given the job by a panel of judges. Now, he just had to figure out what he was going to do and how to do it.

“[My first game] was really awkward,” Bombarger said. “I just stood there most of the time not knowing what to do. Over the years, I’ve understood different things that I can use to perform. People tell me they liked this part or that  part and now I take their feedback and incorporate it into the next game.”

Since then, Bombarger has relied on his spontaneity to drive his routines. With his growing confidence in himself he has found undeniable success on the field. The self-proclaimed “best mascot in the state” has won countless awards including All-American Mascot by the National Cheer Association for four years in a row and Best Overall Mascot for three along with many other impressive awards. Bombarger attributes this success to sheer passion.

“I get more hyped about the game and actually show emotion through the mascot while others just stand there,” Bombarger said. “I feel like I connect with the fans more, and I’m definitely the best dancer. It makes me feel better and want to do more ‘out there’ things. If I push it over the limit one game I have to step back the next because that’s happened a couple times.”

When Bombarger attends football games or school events like the annual sMiles for Sammy fundraiser, he looks like a bona fide celebrity. Children and fellow classmates alike run up to him asking for a picture and a chance to talk to Rowdy.

“It’s flattering,” Bombarger said. “I like when people want pictures or to say hi. It’s nice to have a sort of double life: one where I’m normal and like any other kid in high school and the other I have a ‘famous’ aspect where everybody likes you and wants high fives. Then it’s nice to just have days where people don’t want that.”

From a shy middle schooler who couldn’t try out for the football team to one of the most recognizable people at his school, Bombarger’s journey has been one of self-realization, the finding of his niche and the confidence all of this has given him.

“I do what I want now without thinking twice,” Bombarger said. “I guess in middle school I never really did anything too crazy or spoke out or anything. I was just kind of a normal kid. [Before] I was more shy, and I didn’t try to put myself out there as much.”