When Ai Yasuda was named to the San Francisco 49ers' Gold Rush cheerleading squad for the second straight year, she realized that although the door may not be wide, it is always open.
Yasuda has long believed that Japanese cheerleaders are capable of sharing the limelight with their pompom-waving counterparts from overseas. Now, she says, more women from Japan are learning of the growing number of opportunities to make it big on the fields of the great American sport.
This year, the dance team for the National Football League's 49ers decided to hold tryouts in Japan, opening the way for aspirants in the Far East to prove their worth in the heartland of cheerleading.