There is a constant debate going on in schools and social circles about whether or not cheerleading is considered a sport. Yet whether or not people believe that it counts as a competitive display of athleticism, the statistics prove that cheerleading can be extremely dangerous. In fact, according to ABC News, cheerleading is one of the most dangerous activities for young people. The American Academy of Pediatrics says that all coaches, school officials and parents should adhere to a specific set of rules in order to avoid some injuries that could be prevented.
Dr. Jeffrey Mjaanes is the co-author of the AAP guidelines but believes that there has been a huge increase in the number of participants so the guidelines need to be better enforced, With more participants in cheering, he believes that this heightens the amount of injuries every year. If high school and college groups took care to observe these guidelines, chances are that their competitors would be more protected.
Cheerleading is not regulated legally, like most other school sports. This is because in most states cheerleading is not actually listed as a post. Without the classification, cheerleading is not subject to the same rules and regulations as typical sport activities. While state law may demand that football players wear pads when they practice or take rest periods for a certain amount of time, there are not such precautions for cheerleaders.
Mjaanes explained that cheerleading is typically regarded as a club sport. This means that it is an activity, rather than a competitive and organized sport. The restrictions on coaches and facility adequacy are hardly ever enforced. A coach doesn’t need to be trained in cheerleading to coach the team, and no cheer group needs to have a place to practice with protective padding or netting on the floor in case of falls. Because most cheer teams [practice in the gym with the hardwood floors, people are more likely to get injured.
The American Academy of Pediatrics is making an effort to get cheerleading recognized as a sport so that the group can have their own facility to practice where the participants will be safe and can have protective padding on the floor or safety nets in place when needed. AS well, the AAP hopes to increase the acceptability for cheerleaders to good medical care when they are injured. This is because a misdiagnosis can result in a serious injury. As well, the AAP wants to make sure that all coaches are qualified for their positions and won’t push the cheerleaders beyond their boundaries.
Another helpful precaution that the AAP is working to implement in cheerleading situations is injury surveillance. At some football games or basketball games, there are medics on hand just in case a person is harmed. Yet with cheerleading, injury surveillance is frequently forgotten. The AAP is urging schools to make limits on all pyramid formations so that the cheerleaders will not tumble from a dangerous height. They want to make precautions on the types of surfaces where stunts can be performed. For example, cheerleaders should not perform tumbling on concrete or on slippery surfaces where there is a chance that they could lose their landing.
The most common cheerleading injury is a knee sprain or an ankle sprain, but there are other catastrophic injuries that do occur when a cheer group is not being careful. For example, there are times that a cheerleader may be in the middle of a tumble and land wrong, causing her to fall on her head. This can result in a traumatic brain injury. In other situations, cheerleaders may suffer a spinal injury or a neck injury that will persist throughout their life. While there are only about 5 terrible cheerleading injuries per year in the United States, those that suffer from them are devastated. Contact a personal injury attorney today if you need assistance with a cheerleading injury case!