Knightro

Knightro
Knightro
	Official Mascot of the University of Central Florida
University	University of Central Florida
Conference	Big 12
Description	Knight
First seen	October 21, 1994; 31 years ago
Related mascot(s)	Citronaut (retired), Glycerin; (Girlfriend; retired)

Knightro is the official mascot of the University of Central Florida, and its sports teams, the Knights.^[1] Knightro debuted in 1994, and appears at UCF sporting events and also appears at UCF-related functions. He occasionally uses a custom go-kart designed and built by UCF Engineering students and other members of UCF Athletics, dubbed "Pegasus 1." He has previously used a custom car designed and built by UCF Engineering students dubbed "Chariot II."^[2]

History

UCF's black and gold clad mascot, Knightro, on the field during a football game. — Knightro

In 1994 a committee was formed to explore and develop a character mascot that would attend athletics events. A number of drawings were submitted by Trey Gordon who was Fraternity Brothers with the student (Robert Morris) who named the new mascot ironically. With Linda Gooch, Gordon and SGA commissioned Metropolis Graphics to sketch a knight. Knightro's Name came from an election held by the Student Government and the winning submission was from Robert Morris (the Senate Pro Tempore at the time) with UCF's first mascot had been the Citronaut in 1969.^[3]

The first costume was made by Costume World, of Pompano Beach. Gordon filled the mascot position during that first season of 1994-95. At the start of the 1995-96 season, Trey recruited a freshman engineering student named Jay Lovelace to join him. Lovelace would fill the position of Knightro for four more years. In 1996, a new Knightro was created by a Disney character developer, and the female "Glycerin" was added. But after two years, the costumes had fallen apart.

In 1998, Dave Minichello, of Wizzards Production, created the molds for the third rendition of Knightro. In 2000, Glycerin was phased out and a glitter finish was added to Knightro's coat. In 2005-2006, a group of senior engineering students, as a part of their senior project, created a motorized car, called the Chariot II, for Knightro to use during the annual Homecoming Parade. Chariot II was also used during home football games and other occasions. In 2019 Knightro began using his go-kart, Pegasus 1, for many occasions on campus.

Today, Knightro is operated by the Team Knightro Mascot Squad, which consists of approximately 8 students who perform in costume at all football games, men's and women's basketball games, other athletic events, pep rallies, and special events and appearances. The head coach for Team Knightro is Michael "Mike" Callahan, a former member of Team Knightro.

The mascot was revised for the 2007 season, as part of the "Knights are Coming Home" campaign, where the athletics department dropped "Golden" from the team name, released new logos, and opened new on-campus venues (Bright House Networks Stadium and the new CFE Arena.)^[4] Knightro's look has been updated to closely resemble the new logo, this time with a fully enclosed helmet. The newest addition to Knightro includes his name spelled out on the back of his cape.

Competitions

UCF's black and gold clad mascot, Knightro, at UCA Mascot Camp. — Knightro and friends UKNIGHT for UCF Football.

Knightro competed in the UCA Mascot National Championships for many years and was ranked numerous times. He placed in the following positions: 1994: 4th place, 1996: 6th place, 2003: 10th place, 2004: 10th place, 2008: 8th place, and 2011: 9th place.^[5]^[1]

Knightro also placed second in EA Sports' fan poll to select the mascot that would grace the cover of the Wii version of NCAA Football 09. EA Sports used the older version of Knightro for the poll and all related material, even though it was held exclusively in 2008, after Knightro's redesign.^[6]

Community service

Knightro is a fan of community service and regularly can be seen helping out in the Orlando and UCF communities. As part of his community service, he regularly attends the Celebrity Mascot Games which are held in Orlando every year and benefit the New Hope For Kids charity.^[7] As part of competing for a national championship, Knightro routinely creates entry videos that demonstrate the impact he has in the UCF community.^[8]

Training

Knightro trains throughout the summer and regularly during the school year so that he will always be ready to support the UCF community. During the Spring of every year, tryouts are held for the new members of Team Knightro.^[9]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c Golden Knights is born Archived 2007-10-27 at the Wayback Machine
^ "UCF Engineering Students Design New Car for Mascot Knightro". Archived from the original on 2006-09-01. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
^ "An orange. An astronaut. Almost a mascot". University of Central Florida. 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2010-06-13.
^ "UCF Athletics Reveals New Logo and Font". UCF Athletics Association. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2009-08-03.
^ "UCF Cheerleaders Earn Third Place at 2011 Nationals". UCF Athletics Association. 2011-01-16. Retrieved 2011-01-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
^ NCAA Football 09 Archived 2008-07-02 at the Wayback Machine
^ Celebrity Mascot Games
^ Knightro Nationals Video 2010
^ UCF Spirit

External links

[ucfathtrads-1] Golden Knights is born Archived 2007-10-27 at the Wayback Machine

[knightrocar-2] "UCF Engineering Students Design New Car for Mascot Knightro". Archived from the original on 2006-09-01. Retrieved 2007-07-21.

[3] "An orange. An astronaut. Almost a mascot". University of Central Florida. 2009-07-17. Retrieved 2010-06-13.

[4] "UCF Athletics Reveals New Logo and Font". UCF Athletics Association. Archived from the original on 2010-01-11. Retrieved 2009-08-03.

[5] "UCF Cheerleaders Earn Third Place at 2011 Nationals". UCF Athletics Association. 2011-01-16. Retrieved 2011-01-17.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)

[6] NCAA Football 09 Archived 2008-07-02 at the Wayback Machine

[7] Celebrity Mascot Games

[8] Knightro Nationals Video 2010

[UCF_Spirit_Team-9] UCF Spirit

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v t e UCF Knights football
Venues	Citrus Bowl (1979–2006) Acrisure Bounce House (2007–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Cincinnati South Florida
Culture & lore	Civil Conflict Knightro "Charge On" Marching Knights Space Game Citronaut Kernkraft 400
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026
National championship seasons in bold

v t e UCF Knights men's basketball
Venues	Education Gymnasium (1969–1991) UCF Arena (1991–2007) Addition Financial Arena (2007–present)
Rivalries	South Florida
Culture & lore	Knightro Marching Knights
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e UCF Knights women's basketball
Venues	Education Gymnasium (1977–1991) UCF Arena (1991–2007) Addition Financial Arena (2007–present)
Rivalries	South Florida
Culture & lore	History Knightro Marching Knights
People	Head coaches
Seasons	1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26

v t e UCF Knights men's soccer
Venues	UCF Soccer and Track Stadium (1991–present)
Rivalries	South Florida Big 12 (West Virginia) (2023)
Culture & lore	Knightro "Charge On" Marching Knights Citronaut
Seasons	2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
National championship seasons in bold; College Cup seasons in italics