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Wednesday, September 3rd, 2008

| CWK Producer

Years ago, high school cheerleaders did little more than wave pom-pons and shout for the team. But times have changed. Sophisticated routines and national competitions have raised the stakes – and the injury count.

Lindsey Bowers, 16, started cheering back in fifth grade. 

“It was just little rec league cheerleading,” she says. “We didn’t do much but stand on the sidelines and yell. So it wasn’t hardcore anything.”

That changed as she got older.

“It got harder in ninth grade, definitely, when I cheered for the school,” she admits. “And then with competition cheerleading, it’s more competitive. So it was harder stunts and harder routines to do. And it was practicing a lot more.”

All the jumps, the flips and the lifts eventually took a toll on her body.

“My back just started hurting one day at practice,” she explains. “And then it started getting worse [from], I don’t know, I guess over-cheering. …[I] kept on doing competitions [and] my back would start hurting even more.”

According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, 65 percent of all serious sports injuries among girls are from cheerleading.

Michael Umans, a physical therapist at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, says, “It goes back to the overuse issue. The fact that cheerleading is a year-round sport plays a role in the incidence of injury. Another reason that we’re seeing so many injuries is just the progression of skills.”

Even with physical therapy, Lindsey’s back pain never really went away, so she had to quit the team.

“If you don’t take the steps that are necessary to get over an overuse injury,” Umans explains, “it’s just going to keep wearing you down.”

He says parents should discuss potential stunts with coaches to make sure they’re not too dangerous – and they should monitor their kids at home.

“Pay attention to their body language,” he says. “I have adolescents, [who’ll] come in and say, ‘I feel fine,’ but they’re limping.”

Lindsey’s taken up competitive dancing now, which is much easier on her body. As for cheerleading, she says, “I do miss it sometimes, because when I see other cheerleading things, I wish that I could still do it, but I’d rather not be hurting than doing cheerleading.”

Umans is calling for the creation of a national database to track cheerleader injuries. He also says cheerleader coaches should be required to take certified safety courses.

Tips for Parents

Once considered just a “popularity contest,” cheerleading is now considered by many to be a legitimate high school sport. Pep rallies and Friday night football games are only part of the program for many squads as local and national cheerleading competitions take center stage.  Cheerleading season never ends and squads spend more hours in practice than most football and basketball teams.

Participation in cheerleading is skyrocketing, with the numbers tripling to almost three million teens over the past eight years (ESPN).  Movies, media focus and it’s a new competitive nature have all helped make cheerleading more popular … and more hazardous.  Cheerleading is now considered one of the most dangerous  school activities. 

The main source of injuries results from the increased difficulty of stunts, also referred to as pyramids.  Stunts are used at pep rallies and games, but are used more frequently at competitions.  Most stunts involve one flier (person on top of pyramid) and two, three or four bases (people on bottom of pyramid).  During competitions, up to 40 stunts may be performed by a single squad in three to five minutes.  A large portion of a squad’s competition routine is focused on the use of gymnastic elements.  Common cheerleading related injuries may include:

• Ankle sprains
• Back injuries
• Head injuries (including concussions)
• Broken arms
• Knee injuries
• Elbow injuries

If your teen decides to sign up for competitive cheerleading, there are some steps you should take to ensure their safety.  The Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh suggests:

• Make sure your teen’s cheerleading coach is certified and properly trained for the job.
• Read the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors (AACCA) safety guidelines. The AACCA regularly updates its guidelines for high school age and younger, and college age level.
• The National Federation of State High School Associations publishes the “Spirit Rule Book,” a technical and safety reference resource for cheerleading coaches.
• Be sure your children practices and performs cheerleading only when supervised by their coach.
• Be sure your youngster receives proper training for gymnastics and other stunts and techniques.
• Make sure your child knows his or her ability level and does not attempt advanced stunts before mastering lower level skills.
• Warm-up exercises and stretches are as important for cheerleaders as for other athletes.
• If your child sustains an injury, get them the proper medical attention and follow-up.

The AACCA also offers the following guidelines for stunt safety:

• All pyramids and partner stunts are limited to two persons high.  "Two high" is defined as the base (bottom person) having at least one foot on the ground.
• The top person in a partner stunt, pyramid or transition may not be in an inverted (head below the waist) position, with the exception of a double based forward suspended roll.
• Suspended splits in a transition are allowed provided there are a total of four bases supporting the top person. At least three of the bases must support the legs of the top person, and the fourth base may support under the legs or make contact with the hands of the top person.  The top person must have hand contact with the bases.
• Partner stunts and pyramids higher than shoulder stand level must have a continuous spotter for each person over shoulder stand level.
• When one person is bracing another (including overlapping of arms), one of the individuals must be at shoulder height or below. (Exception: Extensions may brace other extensions.)
• If a person in a partner stunt or pyramid is used as a brace for an extended stunt, that brace must not be supporting a majority of the top person's weight.  To demonstrate this, the foot of the top person's braced leg must be at or above the knee of their supporting leg.
• Triple-base straddle lifts must have an additional spotter for the head and shoulders of the top person.
• Hanging pyramids must have a continuous spotter for each shoulder stand involved in suspending another person.
• All vaults are prohibited.
• Basket tosses, toe pitch tosses, or similar tosses are limited to no more than four tossers and must be dismounted to a cradle position by two of the original bases, plus an additional spotter at the head and shoulder area.  These tosses may not be directed so that the bases must move to catch the top person.

References

• American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors
• Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh
• Consumer Product Safety Commission

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