Cheerleading Injuries

Due to the release of a new study about cheerleading and cheerleading injuries, a number of stories were circulating last week on the topic. When I grew up, cheerleading was mostly cheering, and if anything big was done, it was usually a pyramid built of people on hands and knees that was perhaps 3 or 4 people high. Even assuming the top participant knelt, rather than being folded double, that still put the top head at about 10 feet up. The other "tall" thing that was done was a (usually) male cheerleader supporting a female from about waist level (in college, I think they went up to shoulder level).

Now, cheerleaders, even at the high school level often perform throws and tumbling feats that involve considerable height and rotation. These types of cheers are very exciting to see, but are also quite dangerous. We must remember that they are normally performed without mats or any safety gear. A missed catch or incomplete rotation can result in lifetime injury, including paralysis or death.

The study was performed at Columbus Children's Research Institute (Ohio)and was published in Pediatrics. It revealed that during the 1990 to 2002 time period, cheerleading grew by 18%, but cheerleading injuries more than doubled. While many injuries are to the foot, ankle or leg, about 3% are head injuries. A related study found that more than half of all catastrophic women's sports injuries are cheerleading injuries.

A couple of articles I found informative are this one from ABC News and this one from Forbes Magazine. You can find information about preventing injury at the AACCA (American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors) website.