CHEER ON! Sparkman graduates help Alabama secure national title

TUSCALOOSA- The Alabama Crimson Tide has won another National Championship. No, it’s neither in football nor gymnastics, the two programs at the university which have histories of earning national titles. For the first time in a decade the title is in competition cheerleading with two of its members who could be thought of as stabilizing pillars of the squad who are 2021 graduates of Sparkman High where they also cheered for the Senators.

Alabama seniors Tyler Vickery and Hayden Ottum were among the skilled athletes on the squad which earned first place in the Universal Cheerleader Association’s College Championships in the Co-Ed Division IA beating out second- place finisher Florida and thirdplace Kentucky. It was Alabama’s first Co-Ed title in 10 years with previous championships coming in 2015, 2011 and 1984.

“We worked hard as we haven’t won in a while, so we went into the event without a lot of pressure and happy just to be there, but when we won, we couldn’t believe it as it was a surreal moment,” said Ottum, who stands 6-foot and weighs 210 pounds, and is scheduled to graduate in 2026 with a degree in business and a master’s in social work.

The 21-year old Vickery, who will graduate from Alabama in May with a degree in Kinesiology and a minor in Psychology, knew early on in his endeavors as a cheerleader as a freshman at Sparkman strength was going to be mandatory to be a male cheerleader as much of their work in the cheer routines includes lifts of the female members of the squad. He and the rest of the 15 male cheerleaders on the Alabama squad are required to go through weight training no less than twice a week and work closely with a strength coach at the university.

For Vickery, strength and conditioning has been a way of life as he began playing football while at Monrovia Middle School and continued in the sport while at Sparkman to where he earned First-Team All-State honors as a linebacker. He also joined the cheer squad at the school in his freshman year and continued in both sports through graduating from the Harvest school.

“At first my friends didn’t believe what I was doing, but I told them I had the best of both worlds,” said Vickery, who stands 6-2 and weighs in at 195 and has earned a scholarship at Alabama. “It ended up being cool that I was in both sports as the stigma of a ‘male cheerleader’ was not as bad as many think. My parents were very supportive especially my dad as he really thought it was cool. Lisa Aderholt, our coach at Sparkman, made sure we trained and worked hard at being the best and all of that helped me maintain my macho status at school.”

Ottum was a longtime soccer player and left that sport in his junior year at Sparkman. He instead joined the cheer team and upon graduation attended one year at Shelton State before transferring to Alabama.

“It never struck me I would be a cheerleader as I always thought it was all pompoms,” said Ottum, 22. “My PE coach asked me to try out for the squad. On the first day of trying, I noticed it was a great environment and fun. I know it takes a lot of physical muscles to do what we do as cheer uses a lot of stabilizing muscles from us guys. Our strength coach puts together a program to help us with the entire muscle groups. The toughest part of being on the cheer squad is the physicality, though it puts a huge toll on the body that many people don’t realize.”

Ottum knows all to well the physical demands in sports, including cheerleading, having issues with his knees, back and shoulder. He has had four knee surgeries, including two at the completion of his time at Sparkman and two more while attending Alabama, four fractures of his spine and a herniated disc. For some time, he underwent epidural injections to help with the constant pain and discomfort, and through it all he never gave up his love for cheering.

For Vickery, he, too, had a few injuries in high school and during his rehabilitation with physical therapists he found a fondness of what they did and decided he would like to pursue exercise science within his education. He added, “I also attacked psychology as a way to help others both physically and mentally.”

Vickery also had what could be called a comical way of how he first made his way into cheerleading after being a longtime two-sport athlete in football and soccer. He explained, “I had a friend from my church who asked me to try cheerleading as they had upcoming tryouts. At those tryouts they were offering free pizza, so I thought, heck the worst that could happen is I would have free pizza. Going through the tryouts with other boys and a bevy of girls on hand, I ended up leaving the event with a paper they game me that read ‘welcome to the squad’. I never looked back as I’ve earned a scholarship to cheer for Alabama where we cheer for football, basketball, volleyball and gymnastics.”

Alabama recently was host to rival Auburn in a huge basketball showdown that included an appearance on ESPN’s College Gameday and what ended up being a bonanza for TV ratings as both teams were ranked No. 1 depending on which rankings you view. The Alabama cheer squad spent many hours in preparation for the big game and was there at courtside during what was the Iron Bowl of basketball.

“That was a very energetic atmosphere as we were all into the game and it was very loud at the game,” said Ottum.

“Our day began at 7:30 a.m. that day as we helped create marketing for the TV show and was there the entire time for that live broadcast,” said Vickery. “After that, we broke for lunch and swapped uniforms, and we soon met two hours prior to the game to go over the game’s agenda for us. We also did some pregame marketing type appearances near the coliseum and then prepped for the tip-off. The atmosphere was passionate as you could feel the excitement as the fans bought into the team looking for a win. After the game, which we lost to Auburn, we helped clean up always with a smile and I was finally home by 6:45 p.m. It was a long day indeed.”

Vickery has also had physical ailments while cheering for the Crimson Tide as he suffered a herniated disc last May as he soon noticed his functioning in one of his legs was not normal. He underwent surgery in August to repair the disc and was cleared to cheer again in December. “The alignment of our bodies during the lifts is very important. From toe to hand. We work on building correct technique as bad positioning can cause injuries,” he added.

Director of Spirit Programs and cheer coach for the National Champion Crimson Tide is Jennifer Thrasher, who was Jennifer Vaughn at Sparkman, and won her national title as a member of the Sparkman squad in her senior year of 1993. She received a partial scholarship to Alabama where she earned a master’s degree in special education. While cheering for the Crimson Tide her squad finished third.

She was named head coach in 2011 by the late Mal Moore who was the Athletic Director of Alabama at the time.

“I never thought I’d be a cheerleader. It just kind of happened,” said Ottum, who wants to get into counseling or being a therapist possibly in a school.