Matt Houston Switched From Football To Cheerleader

Harvest- After having donned his pads, helmet and jersey number for a dozen years playing football, Matt Houston traded in his football uniform for a cheerleader outfit and is now one of five male cheerleaders on the Sparkman High competition cheer team. Houston played football for the Senators through his junior season, but having suffered numerous injuries causing him to play sporadically during last year’s schedule, the 17-year old senior chose to forgo his senior year of football and join the cheer squad fulltime.

“I really thought about my decision and felt the experience would certainly be different,” said Houston. “I felt I could have better relationships and better opportunities in cheer than in football. I feel as though I have a chance at a college scholarship in cheer, not to mention the opportunity to participate on a possible national championship caliber squad in our competition cheer squad here at Sparkman.”

Houston began playing football at age five and played for the Monrovia Hawks Middle School program before advancing to the high school level at Sparkman as a center. Standing 6-foot-4 and tipping the scales at a whopping 292 pounds, he certainly is a standout figure among the cheer squad which handles cheer duties at football games and in cheer competition. For some, to see him go from the field to the sidelines was an oddity.

“Many of the football players teased me at first, but they soon understood my situation,” said Houston. “Cheering is definitely different as I feel I have a brother-sister relationship with each of the girls on the squad and brother relationship with the other four boys.”

Injuries carved much of his career for the Senators suffering a season ending ankle injury as a sophomore. He was on a hiking trip to Monte Sano State Park and, while assisting a fellow classmate who had fallen down a cliff and injured ribs and vertebrae, broke his ankle. Days later he underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments and damaged bones. He also suffered a shoulder injury that kept him out of one half of the 2016 season. Last year, he joined the cheer squad on the sideline of football games he was unable to partake in. His normal daily schedule included PE class where he would conduct workouts with weights, followed by football practice and, if time allowed, cheer practice.

His strength is an asset to being able to perform high level stunts with the female cheerleaders including his main stunt partner, Carly Turvin, a junior.

“He has made the transition from playing to cheer for the sport of football rather easily,” said Lisa Aderholt, Sparkman cheer coach. “We have a lot of fun on the sidelines of games and he is a very outgoing young man that is well liked by his teammates.”

Houston has hopes of attending Mississippi State and earn a scholarship to cheer for the Bulldogs’ program. He looks to advance his education to med school where he has his sights set on being an orthopedic surgeon.

The son of Greg and Karen Houston, he has two older sisters who both cheered at Sparkman. Being a cheerleader for the school is like home for the guy most call “Big Matt.”

In the cheer competition a season ago, the Senators finished third in junior varsity and second in varsity competition at the National Championships. This season, Houston is enjoying his fulltime stint as a cheerleader and is gearing up for the upcoming regional competition, which will be hosted at Sparkman on Oct. 29, and the State Competition scheduled for two weeks later at Wallace State in Hanceville.

Houston said he felt football was more of a hobby while cheer is more of dedication and requires a different kind of discipline and conditioning. “Yeah, I use different muscles in cheer than in football and I try and stay very flexible through my workouts and conditioning,” added Houston.

When asked to try and compare the two sports from an athletic perspective, Houston said with a chuckle, “Cheer is more dangerous than football. I’ve taken an elbow in the face, a foot in the mouth and numerous hits to my private parts. I tell others, try it, you may like it more than you think.”