In his freshman year of high school, Josh Marsh was told to choose between his two passions: football and cheerleading. His friends told him to stop wasting time — he was a real athlete, and he needed to play football.

But Josh Marsh had always looked up to his older brother, John Marsh, who had won cheer championships throughout high school and dreamed of cheering for UK’s Universal Cheer Association National Championship team. 

Josh Marsh decided to follow in his brother’s footsteps and earned his second national championship title this January.

“When you come back to school (after a championship), you walk with your chest out,” Josh Marsh said. “You’re part of the family now — part of the legacy of people that have been here since 1985, the first time we won. You feel a sense of entitlement.”

While both brothers have championships under their belts, they use their charisma to encourage their teammates and each other to reach new heights. 

“When I’m thinking about not doing that extra rep or taking it easy, I always go back to when I was told, ‘John, if you only go this much, that means he’s only going to go for a little bit below that,’” John Marsh said. “I have to go as high as I can.”

Josh Marsh described his brother as the optimist and himself as the realist of the pair, which is why they have been able to work in tandem and build each other up. Both said neither gets jealous of the other’s successes, even when they come effortlessly.

“Josh jumped a 40-inch vertical and broke the (gym) record, and he never works on his vertical. He also was doing a couple 40 (yard dashes) and he averaged at a 4.3 second 40,” John Marsh said. “He is super strong, super fast, he’s on rack one with me. It was clear for my parents, for me, for everybody around him that Josh could excel at any sport — except fencing.” 

For comparison, NFL linebacker and ex-UK football standout Bud Dupree runs a 4.56 40-yard dash. 

Josh Marsh’s athletic abilities led him to play more than 10 different sports throughout his childhood and high school career, all of which his brother said he succeeded at, except when he tried to follow John Marsh onto the strip. 

“You would never guess but I hated (fencing),” Josh Marsh said. “I got sparks knocked off me by little girls that have been fencing since they were three. I’d get my butt whooped.”

The Marsh brothers’ dedication to cheering thereafter has provided them with many opportunities to meet or see a few of UK’s celebrity fans, including Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Jr., Josh Hutcherson and John Schnatter of Papa John’s Pizza. They narrowly missed their favorite UK fan, Aubrey “Drake” Graham Drake, last year.

Josh Marsh said what motivates him most is his brother, whose dedication and optimistic attitude inspired him to follow his dream. He is also motivated by the banners inside the Seaton Center, which remind him of the people who led the charge before him. 

“I want to inspire people to see that just because you’re athletic, that doesn’t mean you have to do certain sports. A lot of people don’t give cheerleading enough credit, the athleticism that you have to have,” Josh Marsh said. “If you’re that person who is still on the fence like I was, go for it. It’s not going to be easy, especially if you’re at the upper level like Kentucky is. You’re going to have to put in the hard work, but never let anyone else tell you that you can’t do something.”