Male Cheerleaders Bring Spirit!

Male cheerleaders need to be more appreciated for the amount of effort they put forth to be the best they can be at what they love to do. Cheerleading… where do I start? It is the best thing you can do in your high school career. The sport of cheerleading is a program that keeps you accountable academically and outside of school as well. The sport helps with social skills, confidence, and staying in shape. Although all of these things are positive aspects of cheer there are some negative ones too.
     In all seriousness, the cheerleading community is very important to me but there have been some times when I have felt a little disrespected and made fun of for the things that I do in cheer. I asked one of my peers how they felt about having a male cheerleader on the team and they said “ I think it is cool that IKE (Eisenhower) is being more inclusive and it shows people that you don't have to “look the part” to be on the cheer team.” and another one of my peers said “I think it is nice to see a guy finally on the cheer team; in all my four years of high school the cheer team hasn't been better than it is right now. And I think we need more guys to hype up the crowd more.” These statements say that males on the cheer team are needed and are wanted but.. are they accepted? 
     As a male cheerleader, I feel like we are the underdogs of the sport and that we deserve the appreciation and or recognition for all of the hard work we put into the sport. I made friends with a fellow male cheerleader at our game on Friday night and he was telling me that “they only use us for the co-ed points at competition. But I learn the dances on my own time and do them with my friends” don’t you think that is a little rude… only using the male cheerleaders as co-ed points and then having them just sit out for the rest of the time.

     So here is the thing; I love cheering on my school's cheer squad; however, there are just a few things that need to be said so they can be changed not just for me, but for the community of male cheerleaders from pee-wee football cheerleaders to all-star cheer. Thank you for reading and let's make the world a better place, one step at a time.