Tristan Cruz and Ian Lattea started out as roommates. Ohio State’s junior varsity has to live together, and they decide it’s a game, based on the team’s streak.
Three years later, they are best friends, and they found a whole new family in the process.
“It was the best support I’ve ever had,” Lattea told Outsports.
Ohio State produced three cheerleaders last year, including Lattea and Cruz. When Lattea decides to stop cheering, they still live together, and share a lifelong bond.
“It was very good. We had a small gay community on the team,” Cruz said.
The highlight of being an Ohio State fan comes on game day, when the Buckeyes take the field in front of nearly 105,00 screaming fans at Ohio Stadium. The atmosphere is truly bacchanalian, and Cruz feels right at home.
Imagine this: a gay champion relishes the opportunity to play in front of 100,000 football fans. We have come a long way.
“It’s not like other things,” Cruz said. I probably have the worst timing, and as soon as the first game starts and the ‘Script’ plays and one of the team members sees ‘I’ and the place goes crazy , it will change my mind quickly.
There are many gay players in the NFL, including the Los Angeles Rams, the defending Super Bowl champions. The Rams sent five gay players to the Super Bowl last year.
Gay Atlanta Falcons quarterback Ben Ajani got engaged before a game last year, and there are at least three LGBTQ players on the Carolina Panthers, two of whom we featured last year.
This year, the Panthers made history when they hired the NFL’s first transgender linebacker, Justine Lindsay.
That whole look is mind-altering.
“I hope I’m setting a good example and a good example for other gay boys who want to join the club,” Cruz said.
Both Lattea and Cruz attended Ohio State as gay men and avid fans. Lattea started cheerleading as a freshman in high school, and credits the sport with helping her find her identity.
He said: “It helped me a lot to know who I am.
Cruz, for him, calls joining cheer “definitely” the best decision he ever made.
When Lattea and Cruz started cheering for OSU, they immediately felt the love of their peers.
“[The people I work with] have been the most supportive people, and most of them have been very supportive, and they have been nothing but supportive of the whole team, and my colleagues. everyone is already out,” said Lattea. “I like all my old colleagues very much.”
“It’s not just a good thing. No one is judging anyone,” he said.
There are downsides to being happy. It can be a physically and mentally demanding sport, with long practices and intense stress. Feeling the need to relax, Lattea resigned from the team this season, but remains a part of the Buckeye Spectrum, a student-athlete organization dedicated to creating safe spaces for LGBTQ athletes.
Stories like the help of Lattea and Cruz.
“At OSU, I don’t even think I would consider them teammates,” Lattea said. It was just my family.
People you might not suspect have a Super Bowl ring When the Denver Broncos won Super Bowl 50 (yes, the only Super Bowl not written in Roman numerals) in 2016, the owners Give official Super Bowl rings to cheerleaders, coaches. and team reporter.
Is cheerleading a girly sport?
Although female athletes have more freedom to participate in athletics, cheerleading is still a women’s activity and continues to portray a supporting role in male athletics. To see also : High school varsity cheer program returns to Cheboygan.
Was cheerleading a male dominated sport? Although we may think of cheerleading as a predominantly female sport now, it began as an elite event for men at Ivy League schools in the late 19th century. Most schools did not allow women to join clubs until the 1920s.
Can a man be a happy leader? Cheerleading didn’t become a women’s sport until the 1950s. Today there are over three thousand high school and college veterans in the United States. 97% of all cheerleaders are women; However, about 50% of cheerleaders are male.
What is the best age to start competitive cheer?
At what age do most people start cheerleading? Competitive cheerleading teams start at the age of 3 but the competitions really get serious when one is 5-8 years old. To see also : Big Red Cheerleader In ‘Bring It On’ ‘Memba Her?!. Most cheerleaders are out of the competition at 18.
Is it too late to start All Star Cheer 14? It’s never too late to be a cheerleader! Check out the many tips on this blog to learn everything you need to know, from chants and cheers to basics and moves and even slips and slides.
What age is too late to start cheerleading? One of the best things about cheerleading – apart from everything – is that you can join the sport at any age! For some it’s just a dream! But others fear it is too late to do good.
