Watch: Canadian High School Accepts Its 1st Trans Football Player

Students on a high school football team in Halifax, Nova Scotia are welcoming a transgender student on their team after he transferred to the school because he felt unaccepted at his former school, ABC News reports.

Kenny Cooley, a 17-year-old senior at Halifax West High School, told CTV News he feels like he's part of a family now that he's joined the football team.

"You feel like you're a brother, you don't feel like you're a player," Cooley said. "They're just so open and they accept you for who you are."

At his former school, Cooley, who plays wide receiver, said some of the students weren't "very accepting of the LGBTQIA community." He was initially "really nervous" about trying out for the football team at Halifax West High School, saying he thought "maybe somebody wasn't OK with me begin transgender."

But that was far from the case.

Cooley's mother, Pam Reinder-s Cooley, told CTV News, the team was "welcoming" and her son is being treated "like one of the other guys."

"That's what he wants to be -- included -- and he wants to be one of the other guys" she added. "I thank the team for everything that they've been doing and have done and continue to do. They seem to be a great group of kids."

The team's coach David Kelly said Cooley helps the students understand issues that face trans and LGBT youth and that the teen helps "give them a perspective that they probably would not have had before."

Cooley's father Robert Cooley told ABC News he hopes his son's story can help parents accept and support their children if they come out as trans.

"He's never been afraid of challenge, and we've always supported him as much as we could," he told ABC News. "It isn't always easy, but at the end of the day, your goal as a parent is to make sure your child is a productive citizen in society, and when we look at him, we see that he is a good kid."

Watch a report on Cooley below.