SIAN REID started her own cheerleading squad in Keighley when she was just 16.

Little did she know that just three years later she would take Team X-Treme to America to win the US Finals of the worldwide sport.

During those four years Sian, herself a seasoned cheerleader, has seen Team X-Treme become the official Keighley Cougars cheer team and win a clutch of awards.

Now the group, with Sian as head coach, runs several highly-skilled squads for various ages, aimed at both girls and boys.

And she is keen to promote cheerleading as a sport – it was recently recognised by Olympics bosses – rather than its stereotype image of girls leaping about with pompoms in support of ‘jocks’ on the high school football team.

Sian said: “With the recent re-categorisation of cheerleading to a recognised sport, Team X-Treme envisage a bright future where old-fashioned stereotypes are dispelled and cheerleaders are recognised as the highly skilled athletes they already know they are.”

As a cheerleader, Sian has competed at the World Championships in Orlando and the European Championships in Germany, as well as around Europe and the UK.

At the age of 14 she was a Rugby World Cup Elite Cheerleader, performing at the opening ceremony in Cardiff, the finals at Old Trafford in front of 70,000 people, and at games throughout the tournament.

She has also performed in music videos, and won a Keighley Women’s Good Egg Award during International Women’s Week. She was a runner-up at the Bradford Sports Awards 2018.

By the time she set up Team X-Treme in 2015, Sian had been cheerleading for about five years and had been a  member of the Panache Cheer School and AV Allstars.

The former Holy Family School travelled with Panache to Florida to compete in the cheerleading world championships, then to Disneyland Paris for her first special solo competition in the Future Cheer Brings It On contest.

The Panache Elite team had previously competed on Sky 1’s talent contest Got To Dance, where they achieved three gold stars from the judges.

Sian’s mother Vena said that since those mid-teen successes her daughter had taken Team X-Treme to fantastic achievements including Grand Champs in two countries as well as this year’s US Finals.

Vena said. “Sian choreographs all routines herself and her teams, solos and duos have achieved numerous first places.”

The pinnacle of that success came early this month when the Team X-Treme AllStars sent its Team Diamonds to Chicago to take on the cream of the world’s cheerleaders.

The 19 girls and one boy, aged from eight to 15, returned home with a world record after coming first in their division.

Team X-Treme made the trip with staff and a support squad of parents and other family members.

Sian said afterwards: “We are absolutely over the moon and so proud to announce that our fantastic Team Diamonds brought home a world record.

“Our athletes trained every day at MEGA Gymnastics and completed an outstanding performance on the Sunday. In each category Team Diamonds scored less than one point off a full 10 marks.”

Siân worked hard to choreograph the winning performance, supported on the trip by coach Ciara Patchett.

Team X-Treme was chosen to represent England in the worldwide competition after finishing last year with all wins and achieving Grand Championship status in three countries.

At the time, Sian said that qualifying for the final was a massive achievement for the youngsters.

She said: “Team Diamonds are dedicated and extremely proud of their achievement, training three times a week to ensure a successful trip.”

Earlier this year team Diamonds attended their first competition of the new season, again winning first place, at the ICC Northern Championships in Blackpool.

Last June, Sian was successful in her tryout for Team England Pom, to represent the UK at the World Championships in Orlando in May this year.

However, following Team Diamonds’ invitation to the US Finals, she pulled out of Team England to concentrate on Team X-Treme.

Families of Team Diamonds worked hard to fundraise for the trip Stateside, including athletes trekking the Yorkshire Three Peaks, a sponsored walk, and a psychic night.

Sian is joined in Keighley training sessions by fellow coaches Ciara Patchett and Maisie Marshall.

Team X-Treme has a team of Junior Pom dancers, including Mia Ettenfield, Dolly Westfall, Alesha Myrtle, Molly Smith, Georgia Wombwell, Georgia Durn, Maddy Corcoran and Holly Grayston.

The Mini Pom dancers from Team X-Treme’s Team Rubies include Maisie Rowan, Faith Peel, Hollie Turner, Logan Biggar, Abbie Scott, Delilah Garrard, Rosie Smith, Ruby Boddy, Olivia Frobisher, Annabelle Rowland and Devan Addy.

The Youth Pom squad, known as Team Glitz, are made up of Amelia Hutton, Nyima Smith, Fraya Dibbin, Poppy Howard, Evie Spurr, Louis Bottomley, Maia Wilkinson and Lilah McKormack.

Competitive or “All-Star” cheerleading is very different to what audiences see at American football or basketball matches.

Teams are judged on gymnastic tumbles, dance, stunts, pyramids and overall impression and compete against other squads of similar ability.

The BBC stated: “It is daring, exhilarating, physically demanding and at times, the most dangerous sporting discipline for young women.”

The global popularity of cheerleading was led by the 1997 broadcast of ESPN’s International Cheerleading Competition, and the worldwide release of the 2000 film Bring It On.

In 2016 cheerleading received provisional recognition as Olympic sports, with the intention that they apply to become part of the Olympic Games sports programme after three years.

The International Cheer Union has more than 100 national federations and nearly 4.5 million registered athletes.

According to Wikipedia, cheerleading began in the USA during the 1870s as an all-male activity, with spectators cheering on college sports.