Last week, yet another story screaming about cheerleading injuries hit the wires, and my inbox was flooded. I decided to respond to some of the articles with the following letter, and I thought I’d share it with you:

As the editor of American Cheerleader magazine, it frustrates me to see the same misleading headlines over and over again in regards to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSIR) Annual Report and the misconception that nothing is being done about cheerleading safety. Yes, cheerleading has become increasingly athletic and, in turn, requires skilled coaches and instructors, training equipment and supervision. And yes, such an athletic activity involves a risk of injury. Coaches education and safety organizations such as the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators (AACCA) have made great strides in improving the safety of cheerleading at the high school, college and even middle school/junior high levels by working with the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) and the NCAA. More than 5,000 coaches complete the AACCA cheerleading safety course each year.
 And in turn, the number of injuries has actually decreased.

But the headline you don’t see is “Cheerleading is getting safer.” From the NCCSIR report, media often incorrectly latch on to the “67%” figure, which actually comes from the percentage of catastrophic injuries to females over the 26-year life of the NCCIR report. For instance, in 2008, there were only three high school catastrophic injuries—not 67% of the total injuries for girls’ sports in 2008.

According to the NCCSIR report, the risk of a high school cheerleader getting catastrophically injured is lower than ten other high school sports (including football and three other female sports). In addition, cheerleading is never compared to boys’ sports. For instance, cheerleading had 7.5% of all high school injuries, while football had 65%. And whereas football lasts one season, cheerleading is a multi-season activity
, yet that is never factored into the reports and articles.

And we never see the number of injuries compared to the number of participants reported. According to the NFHS High School Athletics Participation Survey, there are approximately 20 cheerleaders per high school (400,000 total), more than every girls’ sport except basketball. When calculated as “injuries per 100,000 participants,” cheerleading comes in at 8th, 11th when adjusted for the multiple seasons.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s NEISS Emergency Room Study, four other girls’ sports have more emergency room visits than cheerleaders, ranging from volleyball with 27% more emergency room visits to girls basketball with more than three times more emergency room visits.

One day, I’d like to see an article that mentions the positive aspects of participating in cheerleading, such as community involvement, school leadership, physical fitness and the lessons of teamwork and discipline. The only positive action I hope comes from the sensationalized cheer injury “statistics” is that perhaps schools will invest in well-trained coaches and proper equipment and be more mindful of the regulations that are in place.

If someone asks you about cheerleading safety, be sure you’re armed with information. Here are some great places to start, courtesy of AACCA:

AACCA Publishes Its First Safety Study

NFHS Publishes Participation Survey

Jim Lord Responds to Mainstream Media

What do you think about how the mainstream media handles cheerleading? Comment below!

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