Liberty middle-schooler is trailblazer for boys

LIBERTY

On a beautiful, exceptionally warm fall afternoon last week, the Liberty Leopards were ready for some football.

The middle-school team was taking on the LaBrae Vikings at home, and as usual, each team had a squad of cheerleaders warming up on the sidelines to support it.

What was unusual, though, was the presence of 13-year-old Dakota Hrabowy. He was hanging out with the Liberty cheerleaders, but he wasn’t about to be shooed away because he belonged somewhere else, like out on the field or up in the stands.

Dakota was there because he belonged. He is the first male cheerleader in the school’s history.

Now in eighth grade, he’s starting his second year with the squad. Yes, he got teased. Some of the comments were pretty cruel. They didn’t stop him, because cheering is something he really wanted to do. And guess what? People got over it.

“I don’t know,” said his coach, Dena DeRenzis, as she watched her squad practice right before the game started.

“I think it’s the stigma attached. Dakota has broken that. He has gotten scrutiny from boys, and a bit of a rough time, but never let it get to him. The girls all welcomed him.

“This year, he’s had a much easier time,” she added. “The high-school boys cheer for him: ‘Yeah, Dakotaaaa...!’ and the middle-school boys are now accepting.”

Read more about this remarkable boy in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.