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Concerns about safety recently prompted a Pittsburgh, PA area School District to put a ban on Cheerleading stunts and tumbling. A decision like this could drastically effect a High School Cheerleader's potential to obtain a scholarship, as well as hinder her/his ability to participate in competitions. Is removing stunting from Cheerleading kind of like taking the tackle out of football? Could your school be next?
How safe is Cheerleading? According to an article published in The Physician and Sportsmedicine journal written by Mark R. Hutchinson, MD, "Compared with other sports, Cheerleading carries a relatively low risk of injury, but the injuries that do occur tend to be relatively severe in terms of time lost." See chart below.
What kind of injuries do Cheerleaders experience? Huchinson found that ankle injuries are the most common injuries in Cheerleading, followed closely by knee injuries. Cheerleading is mixture of a variety of activities including gymnastics, dance and chants and yells, therefore, cheerleaders share in the same injuries associated with those activities. The difference in Cheerleading though is the fact that in order to perform a stunt or tumbling, a cheerleader's extremities must all be functional. Unlike some sports where an athlete can participate with an injury, this is usually not the case in Cheerleading.
What causes injuries? Some of the factors that may contribute to injuries in Cheerleading include; poor training, lack of experience, improper conditioning, poor supervision/spotting, bad playing/practicing surfaces, poor nutrition, and improper shoes.
What can be done to improve safety in Cheerleading? Cheerleaders and coaches should always adhere to safety guidelines. They should use proper equipment, have an emergency plan in place and learn to gradually progress in the difficulty level of stunts. All stunts should be supervised and spotted.
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Sport
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Estimated
# of Injuries
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Bowling
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23,130
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Cheerleading
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18,858
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Dancing
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38,427
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Football
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355,247
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Wrestling
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43,917
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Could your school be the next to ban stunting in Cheerleading? Does your school's Cheerleading program have appropriate safety measures in place? How save is your Cheerleading squad? These are just a few of the questions that all cheerleaders and coaches need to ask.
Take Our Poll > Should Cheerleading Stunts be Banned? > Page 1, 2
CAUTION: NEISS data and estimates are based on injuries treated in hospital emergency rooms that patients say are related to products. Therefore it is incorrect when using NEISS data, to say the injuries were caused by the product.
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