Tumbling across the gym floor at pep rallies and the stadium field at football games is the varsity cheer squad’s first male cheerleader in five years, senior Brendan Andrews.
Andrews started cheering his freshman year for the Shockwave Allstars at the third highest level of Allstar cheer.
He is easily recognized at RHS for being the only male stunter, along with his impressive cheering and tumbling. Outside of the Rams cheer squad, he cheers for two different teams at level five, the highest level of Allstar cheer.
“There are a lot more college scholarship opportunities for a year of sideline cheer, so I just decided to do it,” Andrews said. “At first it was weird being the only guy, but I’m used to it now; it’s just an everyday normal thing.”
Not only has Andrews brought his own high level of cheer skills to the team, he has also introduced new skills to the team. “It’s fun having a highly skilled boy on our team because he is there to teach us new skills and work with us to better our team as a whole,” senior cheer captain Mackailee Culotta said.
Andrews has to balance the workload of school, college applications, Allstar cheer and RHS cheer. He notes that he does not sleep a lot, usually sleeping five hours a night.
During his performance at the fall pep rally, Andrews excited the crowd with his solo tumbling skills that were incorporated into the cheerleaders performance routine. He also excited the crowd from the sidelines of the varsity football games
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s ok because I do what I love,” Andrews said.
His addition to the squad has given the cheer program a new energy. “I think because of his tumbling, and because we haven’t had that [advanced level of tumbling] in so long that it’s a really exciting aspect,” varsity cheerleading coach Julie James said.