Ben Polega knows his mascot story is not the traditional one.

“There is a stereotype that cheerleaders have to be not in a wheelchair,” junior Ben Polega said. “But I’m most excited for the season and breaking that barrier.”

Having been born with quadriplegia, Polega knew that finding a place on the cheer team might be challenging. But when senior co-captain Avi Zeifman encouraged him to try out for the open mascot position, Polega took his opportunity.

“I think Ben has a lot of school spirit, which is really something that you don’t find a lot these days,” junior co-cheer captain Avi Zeifman said. He also just has a lot of passion for everything that he does, and I think that’s really important for somebody who wants to be a cheerleader or a mascot.”

Polega’s spirit and passion are what won over the panel of judges who select the school mascot each year.

“[The judges] don’t look at the physicality,” Polega said. “They just look at your creative side. It’s just about how hard you can yell and how hard you can cheer.”

Polega uses these skills to his advantage. With original skits and flashy knight armor, Polega brings all his energy to hype up the crowd.

“The mascot’s role is a lot more engaging to the crowd,” Zeifman said. “It gets the younger audiences more excited. There’s something very exciting about somebody being in a costume and you don’t know who they are, but they’re representing your school.”

According to co-cheer director Jace Klein, the cheerleaders and the mascot are both integral parts of the team that work in tandem to raise the crowd’s spirits.

“What they do have in common is supporting the crowd and getting the crowd all amped up,” co-cheer director Jace Klein said. “With the cheerleaders it’s more athletic, throwing people in the air, making big loud cheers. And with the mascot, it’s more, doing something funny doing something silly to keep everyone in a good mood.”

Despite having different roles on the field, Polega said he feels welcomed by the team, who have gone so far as to teach him some of their own cheers.

“[The best part about being the mascot is] the camaraderie between the cheerleaders and their willingness to help me in any way possible,” Polega said.

According to Klein, Polega helps the cheerleaders, too.

“He’s got so much confidence,” Klein said. “He has his skits ready, and he’s excited. Even in our cheer group chat, I put at the very top in the group title, ‘The key equals confidence’ because that is the key to cheerleading. And Ben has that. So hopefully, he inspires the others to have as much confidence as well.”

In fact, Klein believes that Polega’s confidence has been the reason for his early success as the mascot. Over the summer, when the cheer team attended the Universal Cheerleaders Association camp at the University of Texas, Polega was named All-American Mascot, All-Star Mascot, and won the spirit competition.

“When we were winning all the awards at summer camp, I literally had a pile of awards on my tray,” Polega said.

Polega’s goal for the future is to continue cheering in college. For now, though, he’s focused on using his talents to improve the school.

“I really want to have an imprint on McCallum bigger than myself,” Polega said. “And this is how I’ll do it.”

—With videography by Julia Copas

This story was originally published on The Shield Online on August 28, 2023.