CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 It takes confidence and a positive attitude to pump up fans on game day. From cheerleaders to the mascot, everyone plays their role. This year\u2019s King Mustang shows how school spirit helps overcome hidden obstacles.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is just like the best teammate and mascot. He\u2019s so sweet,” said King junior cheerleader Makaila Johnson. “He\u2019s always making sure we\u2019re hyped. The crowd loves him. The crowd is always hyped when they see him on the sidelines or at practices.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Larissa Liska<\/p>\n
That\u2019s Sally the Mustang, but the King cheer squad knows him as freshman Anthony Lopez. Becoming the mascot was an opportunity his family inquired about at orientation.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe allowed Anthony to be part of a great team,” said Anthony’s father, Carlos Lopez. “We\u2019re so proud of him because he\u2019s come a long way.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anthony defies the odds every single day. He was born with Autism and ADHD.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really important for me as a special education teacher to show that anybody can come and be part of a team,\u201d said King cheer coach Camryn Caylor.<\/p>\n
Becoming the mascot was a dream Anthony had since he was a little boy.<\/p>\n
King Mustangs’ mascot Anthony Lopez bridges gap between autism and school spirit<\/p>\n
\u201cI would take pictures all the time when the mascots would come in because he wanted to take pictures with them, and here we are doing the same thing,\u201d Lopez said.<\/p>\n
It takes an entire team effort to show up to practices, the pep rally, and games. Plus, helping Anthony learn where he needs to be for each cheer.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s teamwork, you know, father-son working together and creating that safe spot,” Lopez said. “Not only for himself, but for the rest of the team as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Larissa Liska<\/p>\n
One challenge for Anthony is dealing with sensitivity to loud noises on game day, so he wears headphones to help control the environment and keep him calm.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know it\u2019s always like a chance to never stop trying to do what you want to do, and I feel inspired by Anthony\u2019s story,\u201d said King junior cheerleader Benjamin Aguirre.<\/p>\n
Anthony does not limit his positive attitude to the sideline. He plays baseball, bowls, and is a member of the school choir.
\u201cHe loves the music, he loves the game and he loves being part of something,” Lopez said. “A lot of kids with special needs are looking for something like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Carlos Lopez<\/p>\n
The Mustangs squad is back on the sideline this Friday. King and Gregory-Portland football meet up at Ray Akins Wildcat Stadium at 7 p.m.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Larissa Liska<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 It takes confidence and a positive attitude to pump up fans on game day.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":39075,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[3804,17575,24151,24152,155,157,24153,156,18983,24155,24154,6658],"class_list":["post-39074","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-3804","tag-adhd","tag-anthony-lopez","tag-carlos-lopez","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-king","tag-corpus-christi-news","tag-king","tag-king-mascot","tag-king-mustangs","tag-kris-6"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39074"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39074\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39075"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}