BY Aurora Roderick
The only male cheerleaders on the Homer high School team are Travis Smith and Tyler Wolfe. The winter of 2012 is the first time Homer High School has had any male cheerleaders in a long while. The two boys have very different reasons for joining. Travis says his motivation for trying out for the cheer team was Mrs. Fisher. Tyler said at first he joined for the girls, but he stayed because it was fun. These boys cheer at all the basketball games with their fellow cheerleaders.
When asked how it felt being the only two male cheerleaders they both were very positive. They agreed that the stunting was the most enjoyable part. They claim that at practice and at games they are no different than the girls, except they do the stunting and try to stay away from the dancing. They all do their part for the team.
“It’s nice having Tyler on the team instead of being the only guy. Since Tyler is there we can do harder stunts and it evens out the team,” stated Travis.
Mr. Etzwiler also complimented the boys, “It’s fantastic having those boys as male cheerleaders. It allows the team to do stunts that they maybe weren’t capable of doing before. Also both Travis and Tyler have this personality that can excite a crowd.”
Lastly when asked if it was like just another sport both guys said no. Tyler ended his interview with an interesting quip.
“Athletes lift weights, Cheerleaders lift athletes.”