“H-U-N-T-L-E-Y!” chant the shrill voices of the color guard. All voices are at  high octaves and feminine, all bodies are dressed up in skirts, and faces are adorned with makeup, all except for one. One voice chants a smooth bass, distinctively male. One person dresses in a suit. That voice and uniform make up Huntley’s one and only male color guard member, sophomore Nick Stanek.

Joining the color guard was not his original plan. He wanted to be in marching band, but he was not good at memorizing notes. So he picked up the colorful fabric instead.

Many guys would not be willing to join an activity believed to be exclusively female. Doing so would encourage harsh ridicule. Stanek was fully aware of this and just marched on. One thing he was not aware of was the intense training.

“The days were exhausting, spending 10 hours a day flipping, twirling, and tossing flags in the summer heat,” said Stanek.

The outfits were made out of spandex. His first outfit was a leotard, the second was a long sleeved shirt and pants. The pants he was very grateful for.

Two years later, and he is still in color guard. For two years he has been ripping the air with brightly printed fabric. For two years he has been improving his skills, passing flags from his fully formed right hand to his underdeveloped left hand. His left hand hardly slows him down or bruises his confidence in his skills.

“It doesn’t give me any trouble, only when we do tosses,”  said Stanek.

His family supports him greatly, and his father approves of him being surrounded by the ladies. This year he plans on joining again. The tryouts taking place in May. His goals are to become color guard captain, point his toes, and learn how to braid hair.