The football is hiked, thrown and caught in the end zone for a Wahoo touchdown. Immediately, fans in Scott Stadium are singing and swaying to another spirited rendition of the Good Ol' Song. The touchdown celebration ends with a fist-pumping chant of "U-V-A! Go 'Hoos Go!" led by spirit-infused girls flipping signs for each respective word while being supported by human pyramids. These girls are the cheerleaders who spur the excitement and school spirit that fills each University home game at Scott Stadium. Not only after a touchdown, but also all throughout the game, these cheerleaders constantly engage fans in school cheers and uphold the image of University cheerleading.
Though most people's image of University cheerleading may consist of girls in blue and orange uniforms waving pom-poms on top of pyramids or flipping through the air, this image would not exist without the athleticism and strength of male cheerleaders.
"Yes, collegiate cheerleading is about elite stunts, and while most of what the crowd sees is the cute girl on top of the pyramid, she wouldn't be up there if it weren't for the strong guys on the bottom," said fourth-year College student Halley Bogart, captain of the varsity co-ed team.
Thus, the role of the male cheerleader is mostly to accompany the girls and provide the strength and stability that allow for more spectacular stunts. University cheerleading coach Kelley Carter pointed out that the girls enjoy the stunting aspects of cheerleading, explaining that men allow for basket tosses to be higher and pyramids to be larger than on an all-girls team. Male cheerleaders also increase the variety of stunts cheerleaders are able to perform, which helps keep up the enthusiasm and spirit of fans in the stadium.
"Cheerleading is about image, and the female cheerleaders take the bulk of this responsibility," said fourth-year Engineering student Thomas Barthelemy, who joined the cheerleading team last semester. "Not only are they required to tumble and perform dance routines -- neither of which the boys do -- but they must also spend more time preparing makeup and hair for each game. Guys must simply shower, maybe shave."
Though the guys may not put in as much time getting ready before games, they still put in time practicing with the girls during the week. The guys on the team practice three nights a week for about two to three hours at a time. For the male cheerleaders, practices involve a great deal of repetition for both individual stunts with a partner and line stunts with the whole team, as well as cardiovascular conditioning toward the end, third-year College student Ryan Mears said. Because none of the male team members were cheerleaders in high school, Carter said they have to go through a great deal of training, especially with the partner stunts. She added that former male cheerleaders who live in the area as well as older male cheerleaders on the team with more experience help new members learn the basics.
"It's a cycle of teaching, repetitiveness and practice," Carter noted, adding that "the more athletic a guy is, the faster they pick it up."
Conveniently, although it is not required, most male cheerleaders participated in sports in high school or at the University, so they come to the team with previous athletic experience and are eager to learn. Third-year College student Troy Jenkins, the University's flagman, played both basketball and baseball throughout high school, and other members are former wrestlers, swimmers and football and rugby players. Despite previous athletic experience, Carter explained that many men find cheerleading to be challenging because they are using muscles they have never used before and because it is so different from anything they have ever done.
Many of the University's cheerleaders chose to join the team because cheerleading is a way for them to pursue athletics in college when they might not have been able to otherwise. Some knew they would not be able to continue playing the sport they played in high school here at the University, so cheerleading provides them with a way to participate in a varsity sport and to be part of the ACC sports scene.
Mears was looking for a way to be "a part of the U.Va. community aside from service and Greek life," so cheerleading was the perfect opportunity for him, he explained.
"I definitely feel more involved and absolutely love that I can be part of U.Va. and ACC athletics, even if it is a small role," Mears said.
Though a typical student has to get to a football game hours early to get a front-row seat, enter a raffle for a basketball ticket or buy tickets and pay travel expenses for significant away games, cheerleaders get a free ticket to every home and away game and get to watch the game from an even closer vantage point.
"There is no better way to experience a football or basketball game than by actually being a part of it," Barthelemy said.
This year, the male cheerleaders got to experience a part of college football history as they cheered during the last game ever played in Miami's stadium, the Orange Bowl.
"It was really cool to be part of history, seeing such a huge U.Va. win in one of the oldest stadiums still in use," Mears said. "It was also cool and kind of emotional being the last group to set foot on the field."
In addition to experiencing ACC athletics first hand, other benefits to being a cheerleader include getting to meet new people -- "especially girls," Jenkins said -- getting access to athletes-only facilities, such as McCue Sports Medicine Center, and receiving free Nike athletic gear and a $500 annual book stipend.
Despite the benefits of being a male cheerleader, the prejudice against and stereotype of male cheerleaders is seen as a downside to the sport. Bogart, Barthelemy and Mears said they have observed throughout their experiences that most of the heckling and verbal abuse against male cheerleaders happens on the road at away games. Barthelemy recalled meeting some "pretty offensive fans," and Mears said taunting from drunk fans can result in him and his fellow cheerleaders being referred to as "fag-aliers as well as a laundry list of other derogatory and ignorant homosexual slang terms."
Fortunately, Bogart said she thinks that at the University, male cheerleaders "positively represent our school, and most people are able to see that."
The positive reception of male cheerleaders within the University community may be in part because of the effort the cheerleading program makes to dismiss negative stereotypes of male cheerleaders. The male cheerleaders contribute a great deal to the overall atmosphere of athletic events, and Carter said she makes sure their contributions are made in ways that do not emasculate their image. Male cheerleaders are used strictly for stunting and yelling through mega-phones and are not required to "dance, shake pom-poms or wear makeup," as Barthelemy pointed out.
Carter said she realizes a stereotype may exist, but she makes a conscious effort to try to keep male cheerleading a masculine sport. In fact, Carter said she observed that when many of the male cheerleaders' peers see them throwing girls high into the air, they end up leaving impressed.
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