From the Rochelle News-Leader: 

There weren’t any Rochelle Township High School student-athletes competing in the IHSA State Football Championships this past weekend, but one Lady Hub found a fun and inspiring way to contribute to the festivities at Northern Illinois University’s Huskie Stadium.

While most fans had their eyes on the gridiron, others may have seen something on the sidelines, dancing and cheering along as teams from all around the state battled for championships. Rochelle freshman Anna Harvey was that something, trading in her usual purple and white for an orange and blue costume so she could represent the IHSA as the association’s sportsmanship mascot, Add-A-Tude.

Anna, the daughter of RTHS athletic director Richard Harvey, said the idea to volunteer as the IHSA mascot stemmed from a joke the two made about having a mascot at the high school.

“My dad and I always joked about how I would be the mascot at Rochelle if we had one,” Anna said. “The IHSA reached out to all of the athletic directors, and my dad asked me if I was interested in being the mascot. There was a certain height for the costume, but I barely made the cut… I was in that costume for over seven hours, but it was a lot of fun.”

Harvey was on the field for over half of the Friday football games, sharing pictures with IHSA officials and spirit squads from several high schools competing in the championships. At RTHS, Harvey has been actively working to promote sportsmanship and school spirit, coordinating recent events like the Hub Superfan Costume Raffle during Rochelle’s regional championship volleyball match against Belvidere North earlier this school year.

Read More from the Rochelle News-Leader.