"Psst," whispered the young man thrusting a leaflet into my hand as I strolled into my local leisure centre.  "Fancy a spot of belly dancing?"

For a moment I thought he was suggesting a night out at some seedy spot in Surrey (are there any?) but it transpired I was being enticed into gyrating my somewhat ample girth inside the gym itself, where a slice of Turkish delight is among the eclectic offerings now available on the fitness menu.

Much as I could do with shedding a kilo or two (which is why I was at the gym in the first place) I politely demurred. Fat I may be. Fatima I am not.

However I learned that as well as a bit of bump and grind, there are other exotic alternatives to the treadmill and exercise bike.

Hip hop, lambada lessons and something called sambo (a martial art favoured by Vladimir Putin) are all on the fat-burning agenda alongside the more traditional activities.

And if you don't want to do anything too strenuous then you can just stand and cheer. Well, almost.

Perhaps we should not be not be raising an eyebrow to discover that cheerleading classes are also becoming the in-thing in some leisure centres, and in schools. For boys as well as girls.

Yes, pom poms, twirling batons et el.

And of course it really is a sport, we are assured. "They are trying to get it into the Olympics, you know," said my earnest young friend offering me another leaflet.

Then I remembered a conversation I had recently at SportAccord in London when I encountered another young chap manning the stand labelled International Federation of Cheerleading (IFC).

He's a Brit who now runs the Tokyo-based Federation as its director general.

Simon Graver, 32, who gave up his job with a local council to start cheerleading for cheerleading while on a working holiday in Japan, says we would be surprised to discover just how popular it is globally, with a membership of 40 nations across five continents.


Cheerleading has a World championship coming up in Hong Kong in November with teams judged on technical ability, presentation, and above all athleticism.

"Like most people I thought it was all Dallas Cowboys, high kicks and pom poms, but there is much more to it," he insisted.

"The skills involved leave no doubt that cheerleaders are athletes by the very definition of the word. It is a sport for anyone aged six and upwards, women, men and families - we have mixed as well as all-girl teams - and it is becoming very popular in schools and colleges throughout Europe and Asia, as well the US."

Moreover it is officially recognised as a sport in Australia, France, Germany, Japan, Russia, Thailand, Taiwan, Ecuador, Slovenia and Kazakhstan, though oddly not in the US, where it all began, nor yet on the UK (although as long as they don't have to fork out any funding you can bet Sport England won't take much prompting to er, pick up the baton).

Anything to help boost the participation figures which keep them in business.

Under IFC rules, routines consist of arm motions, jumps, gymnastic skills, pyramids and dancing to musical accompaniment. And, of course, plenty of high kicks, pom-pomming and baton twirling. Personally I am all for putting a bit of oomph, evend oom-pah-pah, into sport.

But playing musical cheers in the Olympics? "Why not, it's as much a sport as, say, rhythmic gymnastics," claims Simon Graver.

Or even belly dancing.

And come to that, pole dancing, which, I kid you not, is also coming soon to my sports centre - and probably yours too.

What's more, I hear there is currently a petition, doubtless orchestrated by the International Federation of Pole Dancing (well, there has to be one surely), requesting it to be included as a test event for London 2012 and subsequently elevated to full Olympic status for Rio 2016.

The argument being, (as with the cheerleaders) that it is no more absurd a sporting concept than synchronized swimming, beach volleyball and dressage. Or, dare I say it, ice dancing?

It used to be ballroom dancing seeking Olympic eligibility. Now belly dancing and pole dancing. What next? Lap dancing?

Now there's something for the opening ceremony that would make Seb smile and Bojo boggle. No doubt they'd lap it up.

Cheers to that.

Alan Hubbard is an award-winning sports columnist for The Independent on Sunday, and a former sports editor of The Observer. He has covered a total of 16 Summer and Winter Olympics, 10 Commonwealth Games, several football World Cups and world title fights from Atlanta to Zaire.