PROVO, Utah— When Ammon Montenegro first stepped onto the high school football field back in 2013, he was chasing dreams of becoming a Division 1 college athlete. But years later, it’s not a helmet he wears on game day, it’s a cheer uniform.
Now the captain of Brigham Young University’s men’s cheer team, Montenegro is bringing awareness to men’s cheerleading.
“I want to encourage and grow the knowledge of male cheerleading,” said Montenegro. “I feel like there's so many that don't know that it's a possibility. And the college experience is just as amazing doing it. I want to just open their eyes so it's an option.”
Montenegro had his first experience with cheerleading during his senior year of high school, when his friend’s parents were the cheer coaches. Still determined to play football, he walked onto the football team at Snow College and did not receive the playing time he hoped for.
Then, a male cheerleader on campus invited him to an open gym.
“I said, ‘You know I did this a couple times in high school, [it’s] pretty fun to just try out.’ And then that was the beginning of, ‘This could be a fun hobby, but I'm gonna stick with football,’” said Montenegro.
But after realizing his football dream wasn’t working out the way he had hoped, Montenegro shifted his focus to cheer. He later tried out for BYU’s cheer team.
He found that the skills he had gained from football paid off in his new sport.
“I was already athletic. I was strong. I was good at following directions and working hard and breaking past my breaking point,” said Montenegro.
Still, he had to learn new skills to lead in cheer. Communication looks different between the two sports, and trust between stunt partners is essential to both safety and performance.
“Ultimately hitting clean is what really shows the best results of what happens when two people trust each other,” he said. “But to first establish that trust, I think it is a lot of courage on the girl's side because she is the one going in the air.”
Looking ahead to his senior season, Montenegro hopes to master as many elite stunts as possible. With the team competing in the national championship next April, his goals are not only to win, but to continue growing his love for the sport and his teammates.
Although his athletic career has not panned out as he thought it would, Montenegro said he grateful for the opportunity cheerleading has given him to be an athlete.
“I want everyone to follow their dreams. If their dream is to go to college, play baseball, football, basketball, swimming, soccer, like anything, if that's their dream, go chase it, go try to make that a possibility, because that's what I did,” he said.
To learn more about Montenegro’s story and male cheerleading, listen to the full interview on BYU-Idaho Radio’s podcast on Spotify, YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts.