No it’s not an April Fool’s prank but something I came across and was fairly shocked by. The Time’s has an interesting article on the dangers of cheerleading –yes cheerleading. It is apparently the single most dangerous activity for young women (I say activity because most people and high schools do not consider it a sport and that’s part of the problem).
Emergency room visits for cheerleading injuries nationwide have more than doubled since the early 1990s, and the rate of life-threatening injuries has startled researchers. Of 104 catastrophic injuries sustained by female high school and college athletes from 1982 to 2005 — head and spinal trauma that occasionally led to death — more than half resulted from cheerleading, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. All sports combined did not surpass cheerleading.
At the college level, catastrophic injury insurance payouts put cheerleading second only to football in catastrophic injuries but considering the number of cheerleaders versus the 100 plus guys on a football team that’s not very comforting. We’re talking about injuries that result in death and paralyzation here and most people are simply unaware that there is any danger beyond a sprain or the usual broken bone.
To make matters worse, most high schools consider cheerleading as an “activity” like the French Club rather than a sport and do not regulate it. What’s more, high schoolers are performing stunts that the NCAA would never allow.
I’ve never really understood cheerleading but I think it’s time we give cheerleaders their due: declare them a real sport and regulate them.
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