Dangers of Cheerleading
70Cheerleaders have always been an important and engaging factor at sporting events. Cheerleaders in New York high schools and colleges are charged with keeping the audience engaged in the event and letting the players know that the crowd is behind them. In the past, cheerleaders were simply expected to stand on the sidelines and lead cheers and chants. Those days are gone. Present-day cheerleading squads do flips and flying stunts, often tossing members up to 15 feet in the air. These stunts are spectacular and engaging, but also very dangerous, and can result in devastating injury or even death.
Dr. Sally Harris, a sports medicine and pediatric specialist with the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, says, “I think the whole term ‘cheerleading’ is a misnomer. It’s not leading the crowd in cheer anymore. That’s a minor part of what these athletes are doing. It’s competing at a high level of gymnastics with stunts and tricks.”
According to the Catastrophic Sports Injury Research Report, from 1992 to 2007, cheerleading was responsible for 63 percent of all direct catastrophic injuries to female high school students and 56 percent of injuries at the college level.
What Can Cause Cheerleading Injuries?
The members on a cheerleading squad who perform flying acrobatics and gymnastic stunts after being tossed into the air are known as “flyers.” Teammates form a human safety net, and are expected to catch the flyer. However, teammates are often too small, too young, or lack sufficient training to prevent the flyer from falling to the ground.
Only 12 states require that school cheerleading coaches have proper certification, even though the stunts they request of their squads are often dangerous and demanding. Due to competitive tryouts and coveted positions on the team, the pressure for cheerleaders to perform is often quite high, and results in cheerleaders attempting stunts for which they are not physically ready.
Experts say that parents of cheerleaders should insist on experienced, certified coaches, especially when the squad will be attempting intricate and potentially dangerous routines.
Types of Cheerleading Injuries
Due to cheerleading acrobatics and stunts becoming more sophisticated, some refer to cheerleading as an “extreme sport.” A Wisconsin Court stated that cheerleading is a contact sport while ruling a case where a cheerleader suffered a serious head injury.
Cheerleading injuries are usually serious and sometimes fatal. Approximately 30,000 cheerleaders were taken to emergency rooms for treatment in 2007. Their injuries were typical cheerleading injuries, and included:
- Fractures and dislocations
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injury
- Lung and heart trauma
- Strains and sprains
- Torn tendons
Concerns for Cheerleading Safety
Many do not consider cheerleading a sport, though it requires as much athleticism and skill as any other recognized sport. The stunts performed in cheerleading require a great deal of strength and skill to execute. Unfortunately, cheerleading is more often referred to as an activity, rather than a sport.
The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators (AACCA) is aware of the increase in cheerleading injuries. They are taking an active lead to improve to improve cheerlead safety. The 2009-2010 AACCA College Safety Rules provide suggestions and guidelines for acrobatics and stunts. These guidelines, however, are not mandatory.
The Catastrophic Sports Injury Research Report states that if “cheerleading activities are not taught by a competent coach and keep increasing in difficulty, catastrophic injuries will continue to be a part of cheerleading.”
A Lawyer Can Help
Until mandatory safety measures are put in place, cheerleaders will continue to be injured in accidents that could have been prevented. When this occurs, we believe that schools and coaches should be held accountable. If someone you love has been injured in a cheerleading accident, the New York personal injury lawyers of Schwartzapfel Truhowsky Marcus P.C. can help!
Our attorneys are well prepared to handle your needs, with more than 150 years of combined experience.
Fill out an online contact form, or call at (877) 625-4473 for a free case evaluation.
We will fight for you!
These Hubs are provided for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal advice. Professional legal counsel should be sought for specific advice relevant to your circumstances.
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Many of their so called rules which they make the coaches sign and abide by or so they think at the time until they realize aacca who certifies them doesn't actually care if they abide or not because any organization who has their name to uphold and it's proven that the coach did not and therefore hurt many people aacca will not take away their certification when proof is available nor will they give them a slap on the wrist. They said the livlihood of the coach is more important. They admitted their courses were not adequate and they are starting to take away certification but they never have nor have they even reported an injury. If they know their course is not good enough why are they admitting it after the fact. Plus when I was injured and severely, their event producers were there when a teammate was hurt and they took a girl we had never practiced with and switched us around I was with the new girl and she fell on me because she was put on risk as well. One of the producers rules which ended up being aacca rules were that safety comes before competitiveness and other rules the broke that day and this girl we have never practiced with as we are all upset over our teammate who just went to the ER do to no spotters that should be there they pushed us to use a girl who we do not practice with and she wasn't even allowed to do the stunt due to her level. I did not know all of this at the time. The producers job is to say they are in no shape to perform and it's against the rules for the lower level girl to fill in just for a trophy. They are all linked together and work for aacca,usasf, big brother people but for them to say too bad even though we didn't train them properly is not acceptable. Too much to list but when we see your teammate almost dead going to the ER you are in no way able to perform for a trophy and aacca admits that their training sucks and admits that the girl should not have been allowed to fill in and their producers allowed it so the minor child who is told what to do and everyone is taught to be a soldier is going to say stop the show. I don't think so. Its up to the adults and when you do not know the fact don't make assumptions like you are. You have no idea what happened and how the so called law makers do nothing when they make the coaches sign a ton of contracts so without consequences after you state there are then you're organization is full of it and they say what people want to hear but the ones that make to rule have to responsibility to enforce and regulate the rules as they say they do but they do not. I live it everyday and I know their rules and back promises to everyone that never happened. I have the actually rule maker saying things that are unreal. Its a big mess so if they are not going to do there job and fool the public all these years then they will have to deal with the consequences that come there way. You'll see what happens.
cheerleading is fun and athletic but can also be dangerous and injuries i think they should have a idea for cheerleading saftey
Cheerleader 2 years ago
I’ll start off by saying that I’m sorry that you were injured; however, I don’t see how your injury is any fault of an organization that has established safety guidelines for cheerleading since the late 1980s. Prior to AACCA, there were no guidelines for cheerleading safety and there was no program to offer coaches training. An AACCA certification shows that a coach has been schooled on progressions, spotting, performer readiness, coaching responsibilities, and numerous other topics. In other words, the course is a significant teaching tool for coaches…so much so that they are able to offer secondary liability insurance to coaches who follow the teachings of the course. Insurance companies do not stay in business very long if they offer coverage on something that will cause them to make huge payoffs.
That being said, cheerleading, like any athletic activity, has inherent dangers. No matter how well a coach is trained and no matter how diligent they are at following progressions, training their athletes, and employing common sense, injuries are going to occur. No precautions, no matter how well devised, will thwart every injury. Further, neither AACCA, nor any other organization including the NCSF, can guarantee safety of athletes. None of those organizations are liable for injuries that occur in specific programs. To say that they should be is akin to stating that a state legislature should be held liable for a pedestrian being struck by a car in a crosswalk. The legislature may set the law to “yield to pedestrians” in a crosswalk, but it’s not their fault if the car driver doesn’t yield, whether by accident or intentionally. It would be up to the specific town to enforce the laws set by the legislature. If the town (police) does not enforce the laws, then it’s up to the people in the town to complain to the government in that town to ensure that the laws are being followed.
That being said, if you are involved in a program where the coach is making “a kid cheer non stop for 12 hours” (something that would go against what AACCA teaches about performer readiness), you are constantly getting injured, or if you feel like you are being put in unsafe or dangerous positions, you need to speak out. Talk to the coach or talk to your parents. Your life and health is more important than a position on a cheerleading squad.