Before cheer, Miguel was reserved and he kept to himself, but his new-found extracurricular has helped him come out of his shell.  Miguel Marcial is a junior on the varsity cheer team at Sahuaro. This is his first year on the team, which he began as part of the summer squad. So far, he says,”…I love it, it’s so much fun.” Miguel’s favorite part of cheer is,”…the dancing part. The dancing part is my favorite, and just being around people.”

Miguel loves all of his teammates: “…everyone’s nice. I think we work well together, especially for stunt groups…It’s definitely like almost siblings because you’re around each other for so long.” His favorite memories are making new friends and getting to spend time with them.

It was scary for Miguel to think about making friends. He didn’t talk to anyone on the team for the first few weeks because of his social skills and not knowing anyone. This, on top of wondering if he would make the team, be capable of doing the stunts and dances, and being in a completely new environment was scary for him – it made him question his decision to be a cheerleader. Luckily, he overcame those fears and plans to do cheer for the rest of high school!

Miguel is undecided about whether he wants to continue cheering after high school because boys on a cheer team at the college level are mainly there for stunting, holding signs, and megaphones. Miguel is glad that he gets to have pom poms, participate in dances, and do everything the girls get to do at Sahuaro. Halftime is one of his favorite parts of the game because he likes to perform the dances. “I just try to go with it,” is his strategy while performing. He tries not to overthink and hopes the performances go well, even when it’s nerve-racking.

Cheer isn’t always smooth sailing for Miguel. His hesitations around socialization weren’t the only struggles he faced. Balancing schoolwork and an extracurricular is hard, and he finds that most of his time is spent doing homework because cheer takes up two hours of his day. The physical parts of cheer are also a challenge because getting a concussion is a big possibility, game days are tiring, his feet hurt, and it’s hot. The cheer uniform is made of a thick fabric that makes him a lot warmer throughout the day.

While wearing the cheer uniform on Fridays, his emotions can be a mix of excitement and fear because he is the only boy on the cheer team, and the uniform accentuates that. He says it’s,”…a little nerve-wracking just walking up too. It’s like all eyes are on you.” He tries to,”…go to my classes as fast as I can, but even teachers can be curious…” Despite the fear that comes with the uniform, he tries not to think about the negatives, because it’s more fun to think about the positives. He also likes not having to worry about planning an outfit for Friday because he knows he just has to wear his uniform.

So how did Miguel get into cheer? It started out as a joke with his friends during freshman year and the beginning of sophomore year: his friend group would be cheerleaders because it was the total opposite of what they would do. However, he realized that he was seriously interested in cheer and actually wanted to do it. He’s always been interested in dance, and he watched a lot of Dance Moms, a show about dancing and the parents and kids involved. He had also heard stories from his friend, Mckenna Maddock, and it helped spark his interest in cheer. He wanted to get involved and, “…do an extracurricular activity, my mom always wanted me to do a sport, so that’s kind of why.”

His family is very supportive, and his mom was the first person he told. He says, “I think they like it. I don’t think they’re like super crazy about it, but that’s okay. They try to go to some games. Like I want them to, they want to. I want my sisters to be there as much as they can. So, I think overall they are pretty supportive.” His mom was fine with his decision to join cheer, but she was just worried for his safety, especially about getting a concussion. He says he thinks they’re just happy he is doing something besides just going to school.

With this year being Miguel’s first year in cheer, he’s experiencing a lot of cheer firsts. Some of his core memories so far are the first game of the season (a home rivalry game against Sabino), and the time he got to be a flyer! During a home game against Ironwood Ridge, two boys on their cheer team were bases, and Miguel got to be the flyer, a change from his usual position as a base. His first away game was also a core memory, but after a streak of three away games, with one left to go against Canyon Del Oro, he’s feeling homesick.

Miguel is loving cheer this year and can’t wait for everything else that comes with it. He’s excited about homecoming, the hall march, pep rally, and the football game that comes with it. He’s excited about basketball season, even though it’s going to be a lot of work learning the new cheers and having games more often, but he knows it’s going to be fun!