It may surprise you, but before the First World War cheerleading was primarily a male sport and when the men left for war, women took on the sport as their own. The Leeds Primary Care Trust has decided to tackle obesity in children in the Leeds area in a new and novel way: by reclaiming cheerleading as a male sport.

A community care project called Dance Action Zone Leeds, which was set up to help boys in some of the most deprived parts of the city aims to use dance as a tool to improve young people’s physical and mental health. The scheme has produced Europe’s only troupe of boy cheerleaders on the Leeds housing estate of Belle Isle. (more…)