This year’s cheer team has sparked a new conversation in the stands.
That’s because there’s a male on the formerly all-girl squad.
“I’ve been teaching at Southfield High for 17 years, and I don’t recall a guy ever cheering at this school,” Physical Education teacher Jennifer McClorey says.
Junior male Kahanda Fowler tried out for cheerleading this year and made the squad.
Fowler says, “After quitting band, I wanted to do another extra-curricular activity, and I knew I enjoyed cheer, so I tried out for cheer.”
Fowler says, “A lot of my friends cheer, and they sort of influenced me to try out.” He says, “I knew I qualified, so I went ahead and gave it a shot.”
The rest is history. Really.
It’s his first year on a cheerleading squad, and he says he’d like to continue the sport next year, too.
While male cheerleaders are somewhat uncommon in high schools, they comprise approximately 50 percent of college cheerleaders, according to fun facts published by the website cheerleading.about.com.
At the college level, the male cheerleaders are generally put in positions that require them to use their strength to hold up their females teammates. But that’s not necessarily so at the high school level.
Junior Dominique Moore, who cheers alongside Fowler, says, “I’m happy he went and tried out for cheer and made it because I knew he wanted to do it for so long.”
Fowler says his mother is also supportive of his decision to become a cheerleader.