The start of the winter sports season marked a first in WJ history when sophomore Karlo Lazaro became the first male student to participate in the cheer program. Lazaro had wanted to try out for cheer since seventh grade, when he and two friends played around with cheer for fun.

“When we finally came here, they went first [and participated] freshman year,” said Lazaro, who did not try out his freshman year due to complications in getting his physical, a requirement for all MCPS sports.

During his sophomore year, though, he decided to take a chance and try out. Lazaro, who takes dance classes outside of school, said that he didn’t prepare much going into try-outs.

“I’m a dancer so I thought I had the skill to do cheerleading and all that stuff,” he said. “So I just went for the fun of it.”

He added that he thought try-outs would be a good experience, even if he didn’t make the team. But Lazaro did end up making the varsity cheer squad.

“I already [knew] people on the team,” said Lazaro. “My friends all wanted me to be [on the team], and I wanted to be [on] it too. And when I made [the team], they were all happy.”

Lazaro added that his teammates have all been very supportive of him through the process, starting from before try-outs, to practices and to their performances. However, he was nervous about the reaction he would get from his other peers.

“I was just concerned about the guys,” he said, citing past incidents where he has been harassed. “It’s easy to perform in front of girls cause they’re just like ‘Oh you’re a male cheerleader, cool.’ For guys it’s just ‘Oh wow, so gay.’”

Lazaro was actually surprised about the lack of critical comments from his peers following his performance at the pep rally.

“Nothing really happened, so I’m very happy,” he said. “I did not expect the support. I would [have] thought there would be more people pushing me down.”

Now that the first performance is over, Lazaro is looking forward to the Winter cheer season. He plans on improving his dancing skills, in addition to “being with the people [who] love me and who I love, too.”

He plans to continue cheering throughout the rest of his time in high school. So far, Lazaro has described cheer practices as being intense.

“Everyday, my body gets sore,” he said.

But despite possible discrimination and long practices, Lazaro said he loves the fact that he made WJ history.

“Being the first WJ male cheerleader in history, I think I’m a legend,” he joked. “When I go to school it feels like they expect a lot of different things from me,  ‘cause I’m not like most guys, and I like to do things that no one would really try to do.”