CHEERLEADERS could be leading the chants and getting the crowds going with their routines at sporting events in Suffolk.A new stage school is hoping films such as Bring it On will lead to a boom in girls – and even boys – wanting to become cheerleaders and hopes to put a team together for Ipswich Town, the Witches or another sporting club.

CHEERLEADERS could be leading the chants and getting the crowds going with their routines at sporting events in Suffolk.

A new stage school is hoping films such as Bring it On will lead to a boom in girls – and even boys – wanting to become cheerleaders and hopes to put a team together for Ipswich Town, the Witches or another sporting club.

Dance teacher Sheryl Southernwood said: "It seems to be something which is very big in America but has never really caught on here.

"Now, since the film and people getting to see cheerleaders on TV more at sporting events, I think it is starting to take off and there could be quite a lot of interest from girls, though it would also be great for boys to do."

Mum-of-three Sheryl, an acrobatic dancer and a former beauty queen and illusionist's assistant, said cheerleaders were not to be confused with majorettes.

Cheerleading involved a mix of dance and gymnastics and involved lifts as well as dance routines.

She said: "It really is a lot of fun and it would be great to get a team together which could be the cheerleaders either for a particular local sporting club or to take part at leading sporting events in the area.

"I am sure that Ipswich Witches had a cheerleaders' troupe many years ago."

Sheryl, of Orwell Green, Felixstowe, is re-opening her Southernwood Stage School, following a six year break, on April 2 with classes for girls and boys aged three to 18.

Sheryl, a former Miss East Anglia and who spent eight years working the professional circuit as assistant to magician and illusionist Richard Leigh, doing cabaret, panto and summer seasons, wants the school to also put on a show.