Safety experts are focusing on the risks of cheerleading. (Paul Crate for The New York Times)During fall football season, most parents and coaches focus on the safety of the players. But there’s growing evidence that they should turn their attention to the sidelines.
The Washington Post offers a troubling and detailed report on the many risks associated with cheerleading, which by some accounts has emerged as the riskiest of women’s sports, “leaving a long trail of sprained wrists, twisted ankles, damaged knees, strained backs — and sometimes much worse,” The Post reports.
“It’s getting crazy, and kids are left dying,” said Ruth Burns of Malden, Mass., whose 14-year-old daughter Ashley Marie died in 2005 after her spleen ruptured when she landed stomach-down following an airborne spin while practicing with her high school cheerleading squad. “Most parents have no idea. They just assume that it’s safe.”
This summer the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, which tracks sports safety nationwide, reported that cheerleading accounted for two-thirds of all catastrophic injuries among female high school and college athletes. The group has documented 93 incidents resulting in death, head injury or permanent disability between 1982 and 2007. While it’s a small number, it translates to a rate of 2.68 catastrophic injuries for every 100,000 female high school cheerleaders, which exceeds the rate for many other high school sports.
Cheerleading proponents say the study underestimates cheerleading participation by at least half, making the catastrophic accident rate appear far higher than it really is.
“His numbers are skewed,” Susan Loomis, cheerleading director for the National Federation of State High School Associations, told the paper. “Cheerleading has become much, much safer in the last 15 or 20 years.”
But other studies suggest that it hasn’t. The Consumer Product Safety Commission, for instance, estimated that the number of emergency room visits to treat cheerleading injuries of any kind jumped from 4,954 in 1980 to 28,414 in 2004. The medical journal Pediatrics also posted similar concerns about cheerleading injuries.
To read the full Washington Post article, click here.
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From 1 to 25 of 74 Comments
The university where I work has stopped cheerleaders from doing gymnastics stunts, flips and has stopped all lifts, towers, etc. We had a young woman suffer a serious spinal cord injury when she fell during practice, several years ago. While she can now walk, she is permanently disabled. Eventually, our cheer squad became land-based after that accident.
This has had kind of an interesting effect. Now, instead of being very very tiny (sub five foot) and very very skinny, our female cheerleaders are starting to look less emaciated and more normal. And the male cheerleaders no longer look like Popeye as there is less need to have huge arms to lift girls over their heads. The cheerleaders have complained bitterly about it, but I think our athletic department probably pays less liability insurance.
As a fan, some of the stunts were terrifying to watch and I’m glad we have dropped them.
— KI hope cheerleading can be made safer without becoming “land based.” It’s amazing to watch. Football players have helmets–maybe cheerleaders need mats or something?
— OmariI never got cheerleading in the first place. Girls in the sidelines, cheering what the guys do… Naturally, not considered a sport of its own. Just something that girls (mostly) do.
And you can become paralyzed! The girls, that is, as they are the ones thrown into the air. Was it worth it?
At least with other sports, there is the chance of winning a scholarship or becoming a pro. Beach volley is an Olympic sport, cheerleading isn’t.
Yes, helmets would be in good order. Don’t perform without a safety net or cushioning!
— SusannaSome activities we choose in life are inherently dangerous. I don’t know how it could be, as stated about danger in the article, that “… Most parents have no idea.” One visit to a football or basketball game would convince any reasonable parent otherwise.
— jackYeah, mats. That’ll work. You can’t get hurt falling fifteen feet onto your head if there’s a mat under you. I find it uplifting to watch paraplegics who’re really good with their wheelchairs. It’s amazing to watch folks with profound head injuries learn to speak single-syllable words again. And it’s great when fifteen-year-old kids show how much heart they have by putting on seventeen pounds of padding and running around in 98 degree heat until they drop dead from heatstroke. Football funerals are always The Best Ever because the deceased is always young and attractive and the pallbearers wear the team colors. It’s awesome. Everything about football is really really super.
— Nom, nom, nom!This discussion is related to that about female gymnastics. Both sports are very risky. Both have a shiny, pretty surface and an ugly underside. Both emphasize female smallness, and, for want of a better word, cuteness. It takes strength and a competitive spirit to succeed in either , but you wouldn’t know that from the way each sport is presented. Many people, men and women, are threatened by female strength, muscularity, or aggressiveness. Cheerleading and little girl gymnastics are perfect for them.
— kaleberg#3 Susanna — there are definitely cheerleading scholarships.
— ErinI am tired, tired, tired, tired, tired of hearing about all the horrible injuries suffered by cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are athletes. Athletes participating in all sports run the risk of injury.
“The Consumer Product Safety Commission, for instance, estimated that the number of emergency room visits to treat cheerleading injuries of any kind jumped from 4,954 in 1980 to 28,414 in 2004.” Does this citation include any information at all about the increase in the number of kids participating in cheerleading during that 24 year period? The number of injuries have increased because THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS HAS INCREASED.
It’s true that there are some untrained and unscrupulous “coaches” out there who don’t know how to properly teach and spot the stunts and skills that are a key component of the sport. Parents whose daughters and sons are joining squads have to ensure that the team will be trained and coached properly. But there’s no reason to discount the entire sport.
Where are all the people talking about football and how dangerous it is? Heat exhaustion from two-a-days, sprains, tears, broken bones, paralysis, death… and yet no one would dream of benching a football team because of risk of injury. It’s a ridiculous double standard and I am so tired of it.
As someone with over 20 years of experience in the sport as a participant, coach, and official, I grow increasingly frustrated as the same old tired statistics are trotted out year after year. Accidents happen. Tragedies happen. We in the business all ache when we hear of a catastrophic injury to a young athlete. But discouraging kids from participating in this fun, healthy, exciting, and engaging sport because of the risks involved is wrong. It’s unfair to the millions of athletes who have grown up with the sport. And it’s unfair to the adults who mentor young men and women through their development as cheer athletes.
— sarahmasI cheered pee-wee, middle school, and high school, all totaling about 15 years.
I cannot even begin to describe some of the injuries I sustained. From shoulder injuries, to wrist and knee problems, and the biggest one was involving my left ankle, which I finally had surgery to fix this past year.
I have been dropped from stunts as high as 15-20 feet in the air, have been kicked in the face and had my nose broken while stunting, and fallen while tumbling on an asphalt track, etc.
The risks that girls take in cheerleading is all for the name of the sport. Tumbling and stunting is SO dangerous, no matter who you have “supervising.”
Parents, please think twice about letting your daughter get involved with this dangerous sport.
— KateI am to young to be dealing with arthritis, and that’s exactly what I got from all these years killing my body to be the “ideal” cheerleader.
@ sarahmas: Do you think that participation in cheerleading has increased more than 400% from 1980 to 2004? Because that’s the increase that you would have to have in participation to justify the increase in injuries.
I have no no expertise in cheerleading. But, I can say that the possibility in catastrophic injury is appalling. The best thing to do, from my perspective, is to declare it a sport and make it subject to the same safety regulations as other sports. Why hasn’t this happened? Is it because of bias against cheerleading as a sport? Or, rather, is it because cheerleading participants don’t want their routines to become less flashy as a result of tighter safety regulations?
— Mary Anne@9 Kate: With the number of injuries you had I have to surmise you had an underexperienced, undertrained coach who was unable to properly teach or supervise the skills he or she required of you. Not all programs are like that. It is a shame that that was your experience. Why on earth did you stay in that program? Tumbling on asphalt? Ridiculous!! I would always encourage young athletes to try cheerleading but if I observed such practices I’d pull kids from a squad without hesitation.
And I have to disagree with your assertion that tumbling and stunting are “SO dangerous” regardless of the coach and environment. When proper technique is taught and required, and proper spotting is employed, the skills that make cheerleading so exciting and fun are well within the risks of other kids’ activities like climbing trees, riding bikes, skateboarding, etc.
@10 Mary Anne: I wish I had that statistic - I don’t, and I won’t pretend that I do.
At the high school level, cheerleading is handled differently in every state. Some, like Illinois and Michigan, classify cheerleading as a sport and hold it to all the safety, scheduling, coaches training, and academic standards as all other state-sanctioned athletics. Others still handle cheerleading as an activity and enforce varying degrees of restrictions. I am definitely in favor of the sport classification.
On the college level, cheerleading is an activity, although many top programs and funded and supported through the athletic departments. The national championships are hosted by independent Cheer and Dance companies and are not sanctioned by the NCAA. There are arguments on both sides of the coin for stricter regulation over college cheer. Again I fall on the safer side and think it is in order to establish NCAA cheer regulations but the chances of that happening any time soon are slim.
All-Star cheerleading employs very strict coaches’ certification requirements and follows its own self-imposed safety limitations.
— sarahmasMaybe it’s time cheerleading went the way of the dodo bird. I think games would be just fine without them.
— RunL.A.I can’t believe cheerleading still exists. Can we use these statistics to get rid of it altogether?
— NAAlright, let’s be honest…Cheerleading is dangerous, but that’s why it is a real girl’s sport! For all who are cheerleaders, I’m sure you will understand that cheerleading not only takes drive, determination, hard work, and passion, but also takes many hours of skilled training and talent. Without stunting and gymnastics, cheerleading would basically be nothing but arm gestures. For all schools who have had injuries occur, I am sure that the coach and participants understood there was a risk of getting hurt, and if not, apparently they shouldn’t have been coaching or on the squad in the first place. Taking away stunting and gymnastics from cheerleading is like taking tackling away from football. It ruins the fun, strength, and expertise away from our sport. As if we don’t already have enough safety regulations as it is….let’s not make more. Thank you!
— Suzie QMy daughter was on a dance squad, and at the regionals they alternated between the cheer competition and dance. I had never been to a competition before , but it got more and more scary to watch the cheer squads. I did not find the mat comforting or the 2 spotters much comfort as I watched girls sail into the air. I am glad my daughter choose a land based but held my breath as other girls were tossed up. And some of categories had very young girls, I mean 5-9 years old it looked. I am sad to learn so many girls are getting injured, once is all it takes. Our girls won the regionals, overall beating the cheer squads for the overall trophy - you don’t have to fly through the air to be a winner.
— Andrea- Pacific Grove CAEverything is risky. I think the kids are in more danger driving to school than participating in sports. What disturbs me is the crude booty shaking stuff the girls do. What ever happened to childhood? Its like skank-o-rama out there. Its kind of embarassing and low class.
— GH WaiteI suggest that all cheerleaders should be made to wear padded rubber suits that make them look like the Michelin Tire man. Instead of being pretty ladies that all the men, and a few women, can ogle, they would serve as sideline clowns. This way their injuries would be minimized, and everybody would entertained by their antics, not just 53% of the audience. Children would love them and want to attend long sports events. (sarcasm)
NomX3! Learn from me, darling. Tell us when you are being entirely sarcastic like you are in your comment #5 above. That way, even the dumber readers will get the valuable (?) lessons you shower upon us. Write to me.
— Rob L, N Myrtle Beach SCCan you please provide data on the risk of spinal cord or head injury and/or fatality for cheerleading compared with the risk in other activities such as 1) driving a car, 2) riding a motorcycle, 3) riding a horse, 4) gymnastics, 5) soccer, etc. That would be very helpful. These data need a broader context in order to be useful.
— SAdministrators are going to have to lead the way on changing this, because the cultural importance/prestige placed on being a high school cheerleader overrides the niggling worries cheerleaders’ parents might have about safety.
— SarahRob L, you have excellent ideas. Rodeo clowns and cheerleaders should both be garbed as you suggest.
— Nom, nom, nom!Maybe it’s time cheerleading went the way of the dodo bird. I think games would be just fine without them.
SARCASM ON
Surely you jest. Our beloved President was a cheerleader at Andover and Yale. Why, one of those young ladies or gentlemen could be receiving the training they need to become leader of the free world someday!
SARCASM OFF
P.S.: nom, your post would get you lynched here in Football Heaven (Southeast Region), but I loved it.
— perraNom did enough in the irony department for all of us. I’ll just say I can’t believe anyone can dismiss this with an “everything is risky” argument, or that there is a place for an argument over statistics (I think I hear a Greek chorus singing probabilities, every time I read posts for this blog….).
It’s obvious: look at these kids flying through the air, and you know it’s really, really, life-and-limb-threateningly dangerous. It’s risky and the stakes are high.
Is it worth the risks? I’m not sure if any sport is worth these risks, but at least for most risky sports (gymnastics, skiing diving, etc), everyone acknowledges the risks. So it’s an explicit choice to take the risks. Doesn’t seem to be the case with this “sport.”
— WesleyUgh! The picture alone says it all. Little Miss Sunshine, the teenage years. Kaleberg #6, you said it well.
— FrancoisBring gymnastics back to the schools! I would have loved that sport as a small female high school student. There’s an injury risks with all sports. Unfortunately, I think the public tolerance for injury in gymnastics-shaped girls is much lower than for boys or normal-shaped girls.
To the poster who says that since they banned tumbling, her cheerleaders are no longer sub-4 foot and “are starting to look less emaciated and more normal,” guess what? Some girls are naturally skinny and short, especially with the height divergence and sudden growth spurts that can happen in high school. Gymnastics and cheerleading really are the perfect sports for that body type- imagine Nastia Lukin trying out the for the soccer team- probably wouldn’t work, would it?
So please, let us short skinny women keep our gymnastics and cheerleading.
— Chrisseems to me that cheerleading has the worst of all worlds: physically demanding and potentially dangerous, plus just “supporting” other sports. My daugher is a gymanst. she has coaches, training, etc. it is dangersous. but, at least it is recognized as a real event, not a
— kay“support” for other events. Cheerleading seems dangerous, not recognized as indivdual as other sports, plus an aura as just a support event. if Cheerleading is a real event, then treat it as such. You can’t have it both ways.