By: Monica Aviles
Cheerleading has been a female dominated sport for quite some time now. There are more than 3 million cheerleaders in the U.S., but only about 3% are male cheerleaders. That number is even lower in the valley. The majority of male students mostly participate in football, wrestling, baseball, etc. There is only one male cheerleader here at Redwood, Gerardo Loza, ’21.
Mya Ables ‘20, Varsity Cheer Captain, has been cheerleading for 4 years now. She believes it is uncommon for males to join cheer because, “They don’t want to be judged for choosing to do cheer… a lot of people get bullied for wanting to do cheer because they think it’s more feminine.” Ables thinks schools should encourage more male students to join during football games and there should be more conversation about how it is okay for everyone to join.
“They (boys) could be looked at differently, but it’s high school, who cares? They’re your high school years, make the best of it, do what you want to do.”
Mya Ables
During football games and rallies, many students wonder why Gerardo Loza 21’ does not have pom poms like the other girls do. “Our team is trying to make Gerardo look more like a college cheerleader or in the NFL where they don’t have poms,” said Ables.
Gerardo Loza, just started cheer this year. Gerardo said male students are not common in Redwood’s cheer because, “There is not much representation. Guys are more pushed to not do cheer.” Gerardo believes males in cheerleading are more seen as a negative thing than positive. He says, “Redwood should encourage more boys to join by doing workshops for the tryouts, or advertising it around the school.” Gerardo is looking forward to continuing to cheerlead in the upcoming football games and strongly believes that men should not be afraid or drawn away from joining cheerleading.
“Most are criticized because it is seen as ‘not manly’, it definitely should not be looked at like that.” – Gerardo Loza
The coach of cheer, Mrs. Becky Springer, has been coaching for more than 20 years. Throughout all those years, she has only worked with 20 male cheerleaders. She says, “Male cheerleading in Visalia is just starting to come about, I would love to have them…we mostly need them for stunting, tumbling, or gymnastics.” Springer strongly believes that Cheerleading is like any sport, “We use all of the muscles, we have some pretty rigorous workouts…it is one of the most dangerous sports out there.”
Originally, cheerleading first started as a male dominated activity. Some famous male cheerleaders included presidents Dwight Eisenhower, George Bush, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. Back then, cheerleading was not treated as a sport like it is now.
Redwood’s cheer squad will be at the Redwood varsity football game on Friday, October 11th. The game starts at 7pm in the Mineral King Bowl.
Monica Aviles
Monica Aviles ('21) is a senior, and is in her second year of writing for the arts & entertainment section. The majority of her writing revolves around culture, activism, and different forms of art. Outside of the Gigantea, Monica is on the girl's wrestling team, president of the asl club, and is involved with many other clubs like Red Ink. You can reach her by email at monic.av3959@vusd.us
