Proving them wrong

News Sports & Recreation — 16 November 2010

Now that just looks hard… Ryan Hansson is a welcome addition to the DHS cheerleading squad.

Male cheerleaders forge new paths at DHS

Dryden High School has welcomed their first two male cheerleaders. Ryan Hansson and Travis Potter have joined the team and are loving it.

Hansson began as a gymnast in Chicago, and just before moving back to Dryden, his best friend joined the cheerleading team and Hansson knew that is where he wanted to end up as well.

Upon returning to Dryden, Hansson approached the administration at Dryden High School, who had policies updated to include formal procedures for a co-ed team and competition.

Although Hansson was put in a tough position, school policy is no more than one sport per semester. Hansson wanted to compete in wrestling as well as cheerleading, but due to both being first semester sports, was forced to choose between the two.

Both Hansson and Potter started out with football, and have chosen the world of cheerleading to finish their year. Hansson feels this single sport policy is unfair, believing that he should have the right to participate in two sports at once.

The big challenge for these two is the feedback from peers in their own school, as well as other schools. With hurtful comments slung at the boys due to being male cheerleaders, the pair really has to turn a cheek to the remarks.

“People can talk all they want, but I’m doing something I enjoy,” says Hansson. “A lot of the guys out there I think are a bit envious. I get to go away with a bunch of girls every time I have to go away for school, and there’s nothing wrong with that.”

Hansson says he had some hard times with his former football peers, as they saw it as a slap in the face of football to go from that to cheerleading. Although Hansson misses football, he also says that cheerleading and football feed off each other, and he doesn’t feel he has picked one sport over the other, but is supporting them both.

With some other male students initially trying out for the team, the majority chose not to pursue cheerleading.

Hansson says, “I got them to try out, and they would have made it, but either their friends treated them differently, or their parents treated them differently, which is really sad, or their girlfriends wouldn’t allow them to.”

Hansson says the more people who told him he shouldn’t or couldn’t do it, the more it pushed him to make the team and be the best. Accused of being gay, Hansson hasn’t had an easy ride, but feels he is stronger in the end for pursuing his passion.

“I can take the heat, and they can say what ever they want about me because I will prove them wrong anyway,” says Hansson. “High school is just a stage in life that goes past you as soon as you graduate anyway. You should do everything you want to do in high school and not let other people’s opinions hold you back.”

By Ally Dunham

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