While girls took the football field by storm during powerpuff football, boys from all four grade levels cheered them on for the season, which spanned September and October.
In previous years, powerpuff consisted of only the players and audience, but this year boys cheerleading was incorporated into the biweekly games as well.
“It was an idea that was brought up last year, but it wasn’t that successful because of lack of interest,” co-lead of the team, junior Katie Leng said.
A cheerleading team for each grade level was originally planned, but a lack of participation led to one combined team of around 15 people, according to Leng.
“I feel like people think that it’s not masculine to cheer, and a lot of people didn’t join because of that reason,” senior Sahil Raj said.
Despite these preconceived notions, members of the team and the cheerleaders who led them worked hard to make sure everyone involved took cheerleading seriously and didn’t play into stereotypes about the sport, Leng said.
“I feel like a lot of other schools, when they do this event, the moves they do are supposed to be funny and girly, and I really tried to avoid that and make it what cheerleading actually is so we actually did stunts,” Leng said.
For the students who participated in cheerleading, not only was it an opportunity to cheer on their fellow classmates on the field, but it was also a learning experience that allowed them to see cheerleading in a new light, junior Davin Jeng said.
“I know a lot of people, they were like, ‘It’s not that hard; it’s not that impressive,’” Jeng said. “But actually doing it, it’s really tiring and sometimes nerve wracking, having people watch you do dances and cheers,” he said. “You have to make sure you’re on beat, but overall it was really fun and a good experience.”
With the success of boys cheerleading this year, Leng wants to see it continue in the future, but improve upon it by having more participation and hopefully reducing the stigma around cheerleading, she said.
“At the end of the day, you’re just cheering for your classmates and girls playing football which is already a step in the right direction,” Raj said.