St. FX aims to break gender barriers with trailblazing female mascot

Team mascots have become a familiar part of the sports entertainment package. Most are animals or creatures of some sort and if they are human, they are typically male, but a group at St. Francis Xavier University wants to change that.

“There’s a tendency for the X-Men to get a lot of support, and for the female teams, we really want to, you know, provide some female mentors, some fundraising support and just some general support to get some fans out to all the X-Woman games,” says Krista McKenna, a member of the Women of X-Cellence group.

That’s where Super Xavia comes in. She is believed to be the only human female mascot in the Canadian Interuniversity Sports league.

“A lot of the teams in the CIS, they have a gender neutral name and they have, like a typical animal, or creature as a mascot and there is not a lot of human mascots out there,” says McKenna.

Student athletes say having a mascot entertain the crowd at games can result in a fun family experience.

“It’s just as important to have a female figure for the girls’ teams,” says hockey player Alex Normore. “The younger girls in the community that come out to watch the games and stuff, it’s nice to see them running around, trying to get pictures with the mascot. So, I think it’s a great step, for sure.”

“I’m excited to see her out at some of the games and see how the kids interact with her,” says rugby player Emma Taylor. “I am sure, especially a lot of the girls, the little girls around the community, are going to be kind of excited to see her and give her a high five.”

Super Xavia has been getting some mascot advice from Captain X, the other St. FX sports character.

“She’ll be out on the field, she’ll be out in the gym, and also, she has skates, so she can come out on the ice and support the X-Women’s hockey team as well,” says McKenna.

Super Xavia will make her first public appearance Friday night at the St. FX women’s hockey game.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh