American Cheerleader

The world is still a-buzz with misleading stories about the “danger” of cheerleading. Jim Lord, executive director of AACCA, broke down for us the actual number of emergency room visits per sport, as mentioned in the recent study by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. While sensational news reports would have you believe that cheerleading is staggeringly more dangerous than other sports, the actual data from the NEISS Survey of Emergency Room Visits indicates that cheerleading ranks 7th, after boys basketball, boys football, boys baseball, girls basketball, girls soccer and girls softball.

So why do we always hear reports of “cheerleading is more dangerous than football?” Part of the reason behind these wacky reports are that people just don’t understand cheerleading. For instance, the original study worked off the assumption that there were fewer than 100,000 high school cheerleaders, when in fact, the number is closer to four times that. Next, cheerleading is basically a yearlong season! So the numbers that come up for, say, football, which has around a three-month long season, aren’t always properly weighed against an approximately 10-month season of cheerleading.

OK, I promise to come down from my soapbox soon, but I have a few words of advice for you:

* Cheerleading is incredibly athletic, so yes, injuries happen. But please, oh please don’t brag about any injuries you’ve had. It’s not cool!

* Do not practice skills you’re not proficient in without your coach there or without a mat. Not only is this risky as far as your safety is concerned, but it also could get you, your team and your coach in trouble.

* Pay attention to your coaches and instructors at practice and while you’re at camp this summer. Your camp staffers make safe skill-building their job, so listen carefully, watch attentively and ask questions to make sure you’re learning new skills the right way.

Stay smart, stay safe, and you’ll extend the life of your cheer career! Think about it.

Cheers,

Marisa