The ongoing Indian Premier League cricket matches across India have captured the imagination of spectators beyond the boundaries of the sport. The Twenty20 series – that sees the rich and famous of India, such as film stars and industrialists add cricket teams to their net worth – has also introduced the concept of cheerleaders to the gentleman’s sport. However, with the moral brigade consisting of politicians, objecting to what they term as ‘obscene’ moves and ‘vulgar’ dress code, several of the cheerleading squads now come disguised in skin-concealing outfits. Considered a threat to Indian culture, the cheerleaders, who have been victims of lewd comments from the stands, are actually part of a sporting tradition in America.

On the face of it, cheerleading by scantily-clad women in the United States appears to be a format designed to raise excitement levels for audiences, largely male, who cling to the ritual of watching Monday night televised football. But a closer look reveals an industry that encompasses sports, dance, gymnastics, competition, training, and both genders.

Cheerleading is defined as a sport that uses organised routines made from elements of some tumbling, dance, jumps and stunts to direct the event’s spectators to cheer on sports teams at games and matches and/or compete at cheerleading competitions. There are an estimated 1.5 million participants in All Star cheerleading, with millions more participating in high school, college and Little League sports. In fact, Newsweek magazine has called cheerleading ‘the most quintessential of American sports’.

The history of cheerleading in America goes back to 1884 at Princeton University when a crowd chanted in order to foster the school spirit at athletic events. A few years later, Princeton graduate Thomas Peebles introduced the idea of organised cheering from the crowd at football games at the University of Minnesota and cheerleading was officially launched. At first an all-male activity, females began participating in 1923. Today, an estimated 97 per cent of cheerleaders are female, although they only make up 50 per cent of collegiate cheering squads.

At the University of Delaware, the male cheerleaders are proud of their athletic prowess. Usually over six feet tall and more than 200 pounds, they train daily and compete regularly in national competitions. Many members of the Blue Hens squad claim there is no sport more challenging. Coach Joe Mackley says, “This gets you in the best shape of your life.” Alluding to supporting female cheerleaders he adds, “If you’ve ever carried anything over your head you'll understand.”

In 1948, Lawrence Herkimer of Dallas, Texas, a former cheerleader while at university, formed the National Cheerleaders Association (NCA). Since then, cheerleading organisations have proliferated. Among them are the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators (AACCA) that represents 70,000 cheerleading coaches across the US, and the International Cheer Union (ICA), “dedicated to the positive advancement of cheerleading throughout the world.”

Cheerleaders for the Dallas Cowboys football team are largely responsible for the image of American cheerleaders today. Debuting in 1972, they gained the spotlight because of their revealing outfits and sophisticated dance moves, especially in the 1976 Super Bowl. Later, in the 1980s, cheerleaders took on more difficult stunts and began to incorporate gymnastics into their routines. That led the AACCA to start applying universal safety standards in order to decrease the number of injuries and to prevent dangerous stunts, pyramids and tumbling from being included in routines. In 2003, the National Council for Spirit Safety and Education (NCSSE) was formed to offer safety training for youth, school, all star and college coaches.

Still, tragic accidents do happen. Recently, a cheerleading stunt at a high school competition in Massachusetts went awry resulting in the death of a young woman who was accidentally kicked in the chest by a tumbler. “What we do is on the edge of disaster at all times,” says Tim Simon of the University of Delaware cheerleading team. “If in a basketball game someone slips on the floor, it’s no big deal, but here it ruins everything. We all have to be in perfect timing. We’re talking milliseconds here.”

All star cheerleading – squads whose main objective is competition - began emerging in the 1980s, further spawning organisations and companies to foster rules, regulations and safety standards. The US All Star Federation (USASF) was formed in 2003 by various competition companies to act as the national governing body for all star cheerleading and to create rules and judging standards. In 2006, the USASF facilitated the creation of the International All Star Federation (IASF), the first international governing body for the sport of cheerleading.

Now a part of American pop culture, cheerleading was the theme of the movie ‘Bring It On’, which starred real-life former cheerleader Kirsten Dunst. The surprise hit earned almost US$70 million at the US box office and spawned several sequels. A more notorious story is that of Wanda Holloway, the mother of a Texas teenage cheerleader who allegedly had her daughter’s main competitor murdered so that her daughter could win a pending contest. Many prominent Americans ranging from Madonna and Meryl Streep to Ronald Reagan and Franklin D Roosevelt have been cheerleaders. What they all have in common is that they are focused, hardworking and competitive.