f+bs=10d=3,3os=9o In America, mothers vie to get their daughters on a decent cheerleading team and the whole business is taught in kindergarten.

In this country, says the woman who knows best: "We have a long way to go, but we're moving!"

Pat Hawkins is the choreographer behind the award-winning Shooting Stars, the cheerleaders who front the Manchester Giants basketball team at the Nynex Arena.

The Stars, aged 15 to 27, won the European Open Dance Championship and have been invited to the home town of the World Cheerleading Association, Tennessee.

The invitation has been declined this year, said Pat, to give the team more chance to develop.

The former cabaret dancer now teaches dancing and is running three "summer camps" for youngsters aged six to 16, hoping they will take their new-found skill back to school and put some heart into their schools' sports events.

The three-day courses are held at Thorn Grove Primary School, Cheadle Hulme, beginning August 13 and August 27, and one at Reddish Vale Basketball Centre in Stockport beginning August 20. The cost is £25 per child.

Pat is now looking to start a junior team and wants to add a couple of more dancers to the Stars' squad - which, to some folks' surprise, is not exclusively for girls.

Sixteen-year-old Dave Lloyd of Heaton Mersey is the only male member and is becoming well known for his Michael Jackson routine.

Cheerleading is not a game for the lethargic. The Stars' routine involves two three-hour rehearsals each week plus games and promotions (they recently took a "best appearance" award at Stockport Carnival).

Pat said: "We are trying to take our standard up to the standard of the American teams so that people will want to become members of the team.

"They don't just jump up and down with pom-poms, but do hip hop and all the funky stuff."

The girls are well chaperoned, do not do solo photo-calls, and are reminded constantly that they have a standard of demeanour to maintain.

Pat reckons the top cheerleaders in the world have to be the Chicago Luvvabulls who front the Chicago Bulls' games.

She said: "We got our inspiration from them. The Luvvabulls came over to Nynex for the first basketball game.

"They walked off a plane after eight or nine hours' travelling and they were just a vision. That is the style and the look we want."

Personality is very important to a top cheerleader - that and the ability to make a smile as fresh at the end of a two-hour game as it was at the beginning.

Any hint of bad attitude means the only way is out. Professionalism is the key word.

In return, the perks for the team members have included TV work and travelling to different venues (including a cameo spot at White Hart Lane and an appearance at a pro beach football event).

And, presumably, the self-confidence to appear before a crowd.

Looking to the future of cheerleading in this country, Pat confidently predicts: "The sky's the limit."

If you want to find out more about the summer camps, call Pat on the Manchester Giants hotline (0500-787787).

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