Keighley Cougars unveiled their new cheerleaders at Sunday’s opening league game against London Skolars.

Their debut clearly boosted both crowd and team spirits, as Cougars romped to a 66-6 victory. The Cougars Cheerleaders and Dance Academy has been established by qualified dance teacher Jo Riddell, of Normanton, a family-friend of Cougars coach Jason Demetriou from his days as a Wakefield player.

"The crowd really got behind them. It was a great atmosphere,” reported Cougars director Pete Spencer, managing director of Yorkshire-wide security group Select, which sponsored the cheerleaders’ new dance tops and pom poms.

Jo explained: “Jason asked me to get involved in setting up Cougars’ new academy and we produced flyers for the club’s community team to hand out in local schools, as well as promoting the initiative on the club’s website.

“The initial response has been brilliant and the 12 cheerleaders who made their debut at Cougar Park on Sunday did really well, as they are all new to dance and only had a few practice sessions.

“There was an age range of three up to 14 years. They included my three-year-old daughter Havanah and we even had one boy, Andrew, among the cheerleaders. They were ever so good and very well received by supporters.”

Jo and other girls from her dance school in Normanton are also helping academy members learn dance in general and, as well as going through their paces at Cougars home matches, they will become involved in other club-related activities.

“We have had some 15 children and young people sign up to date and hopefully we can get more, as the plan is to have both junior and senior groups,” added Jo.

Training sessions are held on Thursdays at Cougar Park and anyone interested can contact Jo on 07946 616207 for full details. She would also like to hear from potential sponsors for the academy’s uniforms and senior dance team.