Pinellas Sports
Spongers one of 255 mascots across nation selected for USA Today online vote
By Eric Horchy | Suncoast News
Published: February 26, 2013
TARPON SPRINGS - Fear the Sponge!Published: February 26, 2013
The iconic symbols of this coastal city – sponges and the divers that harvest them – caught the attention of USA Today High School Sports enough to include Tarpon Springs High among 255 others now vying to become known as the school with the nation’s best mascot.
Online voting at contest.usatodayhss.com opened Monday morning at 11 a.m. and closes at 3 p.m. March 25.
The process of getting from 255 contestants to one final victor begins with state-by-state voting that concludes on March 5. The second round breaks statewide winners into six regions and runs from March 6-14. Those six then compete from March 15-25 to earn the ultimate designation.
For what it may lack in the intimidation department, the Tarpon Springs High School Sponger more than makes up for it in uniqueness – making the old-fashioned diver a perfect addition to the USA Today list that includes five mascots per state and Washington D.C.
Examples of other not-so-common entrants include the Mars (Pa.) Fightin’ Planets, Glenville (Ohio) Tarblooders, Poca (W. Va.) Dots, Aniak (Alaska) Halfbreeds, Newell (S.D.) Irrigators, Doane Stuart School (N.Y.) Thunder Chickens and New Braunfels (Texas) Unicorns.
Tarpon Springs High is also one of two Tampa Bay area schools to make the cut to represent all of Florida, joined by the Lakeland High Dreadnaughts. A dreadnaught (or dreadnought) is an early 20th century battleship initially created by the British Royal Navy.
Listed with each entrant on the newspaper’s website is a brief paragraph describing the school and its mascot. Tarpon Springs’ entry reads:
"Tarpon Springs High School was established in 1905. Its mascot is the Sponger, reflecting the town's long history of sponge diving. Sponge Diving is the oldest known form of the original art of underwater diving, in order to retrieve natural sponges for human use. Tarpon Springs fielded its first Sponger football team in 1925."