As the popularity of the Union grows, so too does that of its mascot, Phang

Chances are you’ve seen Phang – even if you’re not quite sure what Phang is, exactly.

When the Union mascot isn’t on the pitch or in the stands during games at Subaru Park, the mascot has been a fixture on displays at Acme, a visitor in children’s hospitals, school gymnasiums, and even on stage at a Wu-Tang Clan concert a few years ago.

As the popularity of the Union grows, so too has the notoriety of a mascot that initially left many people wondering about what it is exactly. There is a definitive answer. Phang is a soccer-playing breed of blue racer snake, which is an actual reptile one can find in the animal kingdom.

But this version, found banging drums or taking in a Union match from the supporter’s section, is a beefed-up serpent obsessed with soccer, Union fans, and by the looks of it, protein shakes.

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It’s been five years since Phang arrived on the scene – a mere two weeks before the Flyers unveiled their maniacal, orange-clad mascot Gritty, who like the Phillie Phanatic became a character synonymous with Philly – just ask most Philadelphians.

The visionaries of Phang were the Union’s creative director Shaun Kreider and Allie Gentile, director of community relations. Alongside vice president of marketing and communications Amanda Young Curtis, the trio reminisced with The Inquirer about Phang’s creation, impact, and how Gritty stole the snake’s thunder. They also addressed the crucial question about where Phang stands among the spectrum of Philly sports mascots.

Was Phang always going to be a snake? With the Delaware River as a backdrop, why not a river rat or something like that?

Shaun Kreider: Coming up with the right character involved a lot of focus groups with a lot of different kids, since kids are obviously the target demographic. We did a focus group on the characters, we did focus groups on colors, and we did surveys on names; it was quite the undertaking to find what would be the right mascot to represent the Union. [Laughs] And then we ended up with a 7-foot snake.

Do you remember the moment Gritty took Phang’s thunder?

Kreider: Yeah, it was quite the whirlwind. I think we had two weeks between Phang hatching at the Philadelphia Zoo and Gritty mania becoming a thing. But honestly, it kind of helped in a way because of the attention people were paying to mascots from Philadelphia. Obviously, they didn’t take off in the same way, but there were a lot of eyes on us and a lot more people paying attention to the Philadelphia mascot scene, which helped us elevate Phang – possibly even quicker than we could have organically.

» READ MORE: Three years of Gritty: A definitive list of the Flyers mascot’s best and most outrageous moments

OK, but did you ever second guess your design of Phang after seeing that? You created the concept of this amazing snake with this fantastic origin story and then another team comes out and makes just this orange blob thing that no one can really ascertain what it is and it’s getting all of the TV time. Did you ever second-guess yourselves?

Kreider: I think when anything has more success, you tend to pick it apart to see what works. And part of that is analyzing what the character that they created is. But ultimately, I think Phang had to be true to what we are, so we approached a lot of different character options. And, ultimately the kids decided.

» READ MORE: The Union have forged an identity through success on multiple levels

Allie Gentile: We wanted to be authentic to soccer as well. So [creating] a big, giant, furry blob doesn’t really speak to who would represent the Philadelphia Union. Soccer players are super fit, they’re skinny. They look fast, they look agile, and athletic. Gritty works for Gritty. But coming out with something that was in a similar vein to even the Phanatic at the time, to us was also a huge concern. You can’t just kind of launch Phanatic 2.0 and expect it to take off in the same way that he does, because it’s never going to. I think we made the best choice on what we wanted to represent [the club] and how we felt our character should be viewed.

So how do you view Gritty and the rest of the Philly mascots?

Amanda Young Curtis: I think something that I personally have loved seeing is the mascots all together because I think it’s kind of similar to the Philadelphia sports landscape – if one team’s doing well, it’s a good story for the entire city. So [when it came to the news about Gritty] with one mascot really taking off, it helps all the whole group together.

Switching gears. What’s Phang’s off-the-field work like?

Young-Curtis: The programming that Phang is most attached to is promoting health and fitness. So whether he’s going to a gym class taking over where he’s engaging with kids around the sport of soccer, or going to youth soccer tournaments, I think it just made sense for us to have [Phang] exemplify that health and fitness standards are so important in soccer and to really showcase that for young kids and teach them fitness as a lifestyle.

Where do you think Phang resides among Philly mascots?

Kreider: [Laughs] That’s a loaded question.

And we need an honest answer…

Kreider: OK, so nobody is ever going to touch the Phanatic in any room. He is to me when it comes to Philly, the end-all, be-all, of all mascots, Philadelphia or otherwise. And then I mean, Gritty is his own thing at this point. [The Sixers mascot] Franklin is our much-maligned little brother in Philly. Like, I love Franklin to death. I think he’s a great character. Swoop is great. I mean, the Eagles are ubiquitous in this town, so Swoop by default has top-tier popularity. I think Phang is up and coming on the list within the sports landscape as well as the mascot landscape. You have your established mascots like the Phanatic and Swoop, but Phang can do things that are a little more out there and a little more off the beaten path. And I think that’s kind of the space that we occupy. Right now, that’s a great place to be in.

» READ MORE: ‘An extreme character’: Eagles mascot Swoop endures for 25 years and counting