Guest Post by Shana Alroy
Learn little-known facts about cheerleading injuries
Cheerleading is one of the most exciting girl sports of all times. Almost every girl fantasizes about being the top cheerleader in school and college. There are hundreds of fan followers of the popular cheerleaders. The reason behind the sports phenomenal fame is its attribution to physical fitness and association with the appearance and overall personality of the cheerleader.
According to recent health reports, cheerleading has been referred to as one of the most hazardous girl sport. It is believed that each year hundreds of girls and young women encounter serious health conditions due to this activity. The annual report released by National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research states that nearly 66 percent of catastrophic sports injuries occurred to cheerleaders in high schools. The cheerleading accident ratio has been remarkably high in the last 25 years.
Researches are of the view that this report does not indicate the correct number of the actual injuries that take place during the play. This is because usually, cheerleading injuries are believed to be temporary without any notable side-effects.
Cheerleading injuries have increased considerably over the last few years. The college statistics for catastrophic injuries indicate 66.7 percent of cheerleading incidents, which increased from 59.4 percent last year.
Dr. Frederick O. Mueller says, “ The reason why the injuries have risen in the recent years is due to the cheerleading stunts that involve gymnastic moves”, who is a researcher and professor of sports science and exercise at North Carolina University at Chapel Hill. He adds, “ The ratio of catastrophic injuries can considerably decrease if a competent coach properly trains the cheerleaders.”
Considering the high ratio of fatal injuries, it is important to keep young girls aware of the possible consequences and teach them some safety measures. In addition to this, high schools and colleges should ensure that they hire a competent trainer to minimize the risk of injury.
Author Reference: Shana Alroy is a writer and a blogger. She is currently working for CheerZone; a Michigan based company that specializes in manufacturing Cheerleading Uniform. She also likes to spend her spare time gardening, cooking and socializing.
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I have watched cheerleader competitions, and I must say that it has come a long way since I was in school, these girls (and guys) have real talent and athleticism!
It is pretty cool to watch these cheer leading competition, it is fun and exciting but for most of us we don’t fully understand the danger involve in this. I wonder in what way they practice their routines, I mean do they do it with the out-most precaution? But it still fun thou..without cheer leading it will be just dull.
The pain behind the glamour. I think most importantly the ladies need to know how to be careful and look after themselves well from getting injuries. Also, trainers should be less demanding in making them do impossible moves.
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agree with Ching Ya
i think you want to tell that most depends from what is the qualification of the trainer, is it appropriate or not, everybody knows that all kind of physical activity may cause some damage.
ps: nice photo with very nice girls
I guess every profession now-er-days is having tough competition inside. I feel every profession must be having some side effects on the health of people may it be in form of stress or some serious injury. I guess this is the pain or sorrow behind the glamorous world of Cheer leading.
Some people do not take cheerleading seriously, especially guys. They just thought its just a thing for girls. I actually admire cheerleaders for their dedication and their sacrifice for cheerleading.
Cheerleaders have to be among the most talented dancers and athletes to pull off some entertaining and awe inspiring moves, that’s what keeps the audience interested. So it’s definitely a tough sport to be involved in, and sometimes it’s even a bit thankless when your team is losing.
I am doing cheerleading as a topic for a persuasive speech, and I think some pros of cheerleading are; you get exercise, make new friends, push yourself to limits you didn’t know possible (make you and loved ones proud), gain leadership skills, become more involved in school events, and you learn a lot of discipline. Some cons are; it cost a lot of money, takes up a lot of time, you can become injured (whether you are a flayer or not!), and the regular stereotypes come with being a cheerleader.
I never knew that this could be the face of glamor and money behind the cheerleading thing. May be this the way cheerleadres have to pay for the fame they get.
Cheerleader is very exciting and I like seeing them in competition and games, but they have to find a way to reduce the incident of injuries in the sport to the minimum level.
I know cheerleading is a great sport especially for the ladies, but I didn’t know that it is a very very dangerous one. I have looked at the top tens.com site and found out that Cheerleading is the number 1 in Most dangerous sports. Next to that is horseback riding, lacrosse, soccer, gymnastics, bull riding, motocross, hockey, football and the tenth is rugby league. Even if cheerleading is a dangerous sport, still many love doing it. I myself enjoy watching these cheerleading competitions on ESPN.
I like cheerleading because of the intense physical activity, competitiveness and routines which contain the componen. The intensity does make it dangerous which is a downside. The danger needs to minimised somehow.
I enjoy it watching on ESPN and one of my favourite flims is Bring It On! – Nice Blog
I really enjoy cheerleading because when I was in school we always had allot of fun doing it.
The title clearly states that cheerleading is *THE* most dangerous sport for females. There is also a reference to some statistics that cheerleading accounts for more than 65% of injuries, while at the same time, the link at the bottom of the same article for a list of “The Most Dangerous Sports in America”, does not even include cheerleading at all.
I’m not quite satisfied by the article’s treatment to the numbers. Is cheerleading the most dangerous sport only because it’s also the most common?
i had heard about the cheerleaders but now i came to know in details. these girls are really flawless and mind blowing…
Makes sense to me. My daughter is a skateboardr and BMX rider and has never seriously hurt herself in those extreme sports however, she did break her arm last year cheer leading! Go figure!
Definitely true. I watch the competition in ESPN and its really exciting but the person who come there are really good so no accident there. But during practice I am sure that someone might have hurt themselves very badly.
I live in New Zealand but I get to see cheerleading on a professional level. I think they are marvelous and very talented. It takes a lot of work to make it seem so effortless. And very entertaining.
The REASON why the injuries are so rampant in this sport, is because it IS NOT RECOGNIZED OR TREATED AS A SPORT! Cheerleading as a sport has grown unbelievably, while the mentality in the High School Athletic system has not changed since the 60′s, and the athletes are usually catagorized as an “activity” along with chess club. Probably 99% (if not all) of High School Cheer Programs are under-staffed, under-funded, and given little to no attention by the athletic department. I think this is the first time I have seen Cheerleading mentioned in the media as a “sport” and that alone is a step forward for the 95,000 kids participating in cheer. I was a cheerleader in highschool and college, and coached competitive co-ed High School cheer teams for 10 years. The teams I coached were in danger every practice because they were not afforded the basic safety equipment needed (such as cushioned practice mats) that other sports teams are provided. Nor were they given proper practice space… and this was at a wealthy San Diego area Catholic High School. This is the recurring story I hear from cheer coaches everywhere. The fact is, if a school were to ask ANY other gymnastic or athletic team to practice on a cement school parking lot (which is where many cheer teams are relegated to), those teams would absolutely have equal catastrophic injuries. Additionally, Cheerleaders are the only athletes that have a year ’round season schedule, often three times the amount of practice and performances of other teams. The school administrations expect their cheer teams to show up everywhere… yet again, they are always the least funded, lowest staffed and least provided-for teams in the system. I hope this important new injury report brings some awareness of the negligence to these athletes.
It is a shame if these athletes are being required to practice without proper safety equipment. @epicsportscom
Most high schools will also take a bad teacher if that bad teacher is a good football coach. Many high school cheer coaches were cheerleaders back in the 80′s when it was about cheering on the boys and not about being athletes. Competitive cheerleading is the purest team sport I know. If coached correctly you can dramatically reduce the risks involved.
I was a cheerleader in high school and I know about the stress and injuries associated with this sport. I really think its time that regulations were put into actions. Its children’s lives that we are putting on the line.
I get that this sport is completely dangerous and throw stunts in the air…but guess what…there are people underneath them TO CATCH THEM IF THEY FALL!! Look at gymnastics for instance, sure maybe not as many people get hurt by it but there is a bigger risk. no one is underneath the bar waiting to catch me if i fall! or beam! or vault! and the strength training we do is waayy harder than waving popm poms in the air and shouting “go team go!”
I fond of watching cheerleader competition. They are really terrific and enthusiastic. Oftentimes it is also a dangerous form of entertainment. I have a neighbor who never recover from the accident and really left her deformity.
I read somewhere that they are starting to put in place some strict guidelines and requirements for cheerleading coaches. It is expected that this will decrease the number of accidents. They have also implemented some rules for competition that no longer allow certain “tricks” which were considered high injury.
Completely agree that this competition is really breath taking. Really love this competition. It makes me cheer up whenever I saw these smart and sexy ladies.
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I can’t deny cheer leading is very nice sports for girls and it is also dangerous sports for them. But when you enjoy one stuff you won’t think the danger you will encounter.
Cheerleading is a physical activity, sometimes a competitive sport, using organized routines, usually ranging from one to three minutes, which contain the components of tumbling, dance, jumps, cheers, and stunting to direct spectators of events to cheer on sports teams at games or to participate in competitions. I remember this way back when I was in high school days. And I terribly missed those moments.
Who would have thought that cheer leading could be so dangerous although just looking at that image of the girl balanced so precariously on someone’s hand you can immediately see that this is not a sport for the fainthearted.
Hopefully coaches are not pushing these young ladies beyond their limits. I’m sure that is where many accidents would happen.
Good training, proper warm-up and training on an appropriate surface could eliminate some of these accidents. However, so long as there is a competitive edge to it there will always be a few.
nice web page and nice pictures you have posted good to see and would like to see such more articles and pictures so that we may enjoy seeing it .
Those are some fascinating pictures with the cheerleaders. Bu the way good idea for the blog name. ” Blog abut everithing.”
Great pictures – cheerleaders looks very nice. This sport is very dangarous. Respect for all cheerleaders.
Cheerleaders faces a lot of danger specially those that were tossed up and climbs a big pyramid. I do not agree when you said that cheerleading i juries are temporary. There are many kinds of injuries and at times, they are fatal. This also happens to cheerleaders.
All I can say is wow! I never realised how intense this could be. If you’d like to work in sports please visit our site – though we don’t currently have any cheerleading jobs available.
I am a cheerleader myself it is so dangerous. One time i got ingured i was in a one footed stunt (lib) my bases underneath me wobbled and i went down over my backs head and boom i had a blackout lucky it was nothing mager. I still do cheerleading i also onece got so hurt ffrom doing a backtuck! i am a magor gymnast no dout about it! I for cheerleading and no matter how dangerous it is i will always love it!!
Do cheerleaders or football players get hurt more at the high school level?
IF I WERE A CHEERLEADER.. with my height 6 feet.. can i be a flyer?
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many people do not consider this to be a sport. they couldn’t be more wrong. this requires high energy, strength, and endurance. not to many people can do what they do.
i agree with the last comment. i was a cheerleader back in high school and it was probably the toughest thing I’ve done yet in my life. With luck I never got seriously injured.