Should cheerleading be considered a sport?
Note: The following post appears as my sports medicine column in the October 25, 2012 issue of The Post and Courier. It is the first of a three part series discussing injuries in cheerleading. In part two, I share some statistics about injuries, injury type and mechanisms of injury, and risk factors for injury. In part three, I share some recommendations to prevent injuries in cheerleading and keep athletes safe.
Millions of fans watch football games every year. While we almost expect injuries to occur on the field, most of us rarely consider the injuries that occur just a few feet away.
A policy statement released Tuesday by the American Academy of Pediatrics offers surprising statistics regarding injuries in cheerleading and recommendations to decrease them. Tucked deep in the paper, though, is the most pertinent, and controversial, argument.
The American Academy of Pediatrics now calls for cheerleading to be recognized as a sport. The NCAA does not currently list competitive cheerleading as one of its sponsored sports. The high school athletic associations of only 29 states recognize cheerleading as a sport.
As of 2009, approximately 400,000 athletes participated in high school cheerleading and about 123,000 participated on competitive cheer teams, according to data from the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS). As long ago as 2003, there were over 3.6 million cheerleaders ages 6 and older in United States.
As the AAP’s Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness points out, the overall injury rate in cheerleading is fairly low. At the high school level, the overall rate of injuries per 1000 exposures is significantly lower than that of gymnastics, soccer, basketball, field hockey, softball, and volleyball.
Unfortunately as cheerleading has become much more athletic with the incorporation of risky acrobatic stunts and tumbling passes, serious injuries do seem to be increasing.
About two-thirds (65%) of catastrophic injuries that occur among female high school athletes result from cheerleading, These catastrophic injuries in cheerleading include closed head injuries, skull fractures, and cervical spine injuries that result in paralysis, brain damage, and death. Cheerleading accounts for over 70% of direct catastrophic injuries among female college athletes.
Likewise, between 1998 and 2008, concussions in cheerleading increased by an average of 26% per year. This increase is larger than that of any other girls’ sport.
For years I’ve argued that it doesn’t matter whether or not cheerleading was called a sport because it was essentially a legal distinction. I have always believed, though, that cheerleaders are athletes.
The power, agility, balance, and stamina required in modern competitive cheerleading is unbelievable. And injuries often result from these complex maneuvers. The ACL tears, broken bones, and dislocations from cheerleading are no less painful or easier to return to activity than those of the officially recognized sports.
Cheerleading: Real athletes, real injuries – In the Zone segment from Episode 5 of The Dr. David Geier Show.
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The American Academy of Pediatrics argues that the designation of cheerleading as a sport does, in fact, matter. Being classified as a sport by the NCAA or NFHS would provide cheerleading teams the same benefits and protections as their schools’ other sports. Presence of certified athletic trainers, access to medical staff and physicians, certification of coaches, more suitable and maintained practice facilities, and required preparticipation physicals, which are regulated by sports’ governing bodies, would be available to cheerleading.
In addition, injuries from cheerleading are not uniformly collected by NFHS or NCAA injury surveillance systems. Most cheerleading injury data derives from a handful of epidemiology studies. Better nationwide injury data could lead to better recommendations for injury prevention and, hopefully, safer athletes.
I realize the negative reactions this idea might receive from many sports fans. I would ask detractors who regard cheerleading to be an activity where groups of students lead cheers on the sidelines of football games to witness modern competitive cheerleading before rushing to judgment. Cheerleading is a sport with real athletes and real injuries.
What do you think? Should cheerleading be considered a sport? If you are a cheerleader, have you ever suffered an injury during practice or competition? Share your thoughts below!
Reference:
Cheerleading Injuries: Epidemiology and Recommendations for Prevention. Council on Sports Medicine and Fitness. Pediatrics; Volume 130, Number 5, November 2012.
C. David Geier Jr., M.D.
7 Comments
As a parent of 2 JV HS cheerleaders who also do competition for the school, how do we get the coaches attention about the seriousness of these injuries. My girls, just this year, the oldest has received a shoulder injury which she needed surgery and is in the process of recovering and my youngest has received a knee injury, out for several weeks and now has received a concussion in which the coach allowed her to compete right after hitting her head on the floor during warm-up before competing . There has been several other concussion on the team amongst other injuries this season. (Neither of my daughters will finish out the year) . How as parents do we get the message across before something worse happens?
Fantastic question, and thanks for sharing your experience! I don’t know that there is any one right answer. Certification and education of coaches, teaching basic injury evaluation and management, presence of certified athletic trainers – all those come immediately to mind. Anyone have any others to share?
What really helped in my school was bringing the rules to light. ACCA handbook has a very set and defined list of what stunts, tumbling passes, and surfaces are legal. The handbook can be downloaded on the UCA website. I would highly recommend bringing this handbook to the school’s athletic director and the coach.
Whether it is called a sport or not does not matter to me. Regardless of its designation, these girls (and boys) are still athletes. And they still deal with athletic injuries. They are no different than the football player or the soccer player. They are athletes and should be treated like other athletes.
Right now I am dealing with a slew of cheerleading injuries. They are not all directly related to the act of cheerleading, but the girls still need care of orthopedic injuries for them to be able to go out and perform.
Every Athlete Deserves an Athletic Trainer. #AT4ALL
As a competitive high school cheerleader for 4 years, I can say I have personally seen more injuries, and far worse injuries, in our practices, games, and competitions than any other team at our high school.
Living in Pennsylvania, this is our first year as a PIAA recognized sport referred to as “competitive spirit.” However, there are only about 30 states willing to add us to their list of “athletes.” I plan to attend college next fall to study athletic training and hopefully continue my cheerleading career. Preliminary studying in this field has really opened my eyes to college level cheerleading injuries, and i just cant understand why the NCAA doesn’t realize the risk they are putting on these athletes.
As for my personal injuries, I have permanent damage to my wrists and hips from tumbling, tendonitis in my right ankle, and have endured multiple concussions. Also i will require biweekly chiropractor visits for back problems, related to stunting, most likely for the rest of my life.
I firmly believe that most of my long-term injuries could have been reduced, if not prevented, had they been recognized on the spot by an athletic trainer. Just like they would’ve been had i played basketball or football.
I think athletic trainers are important for many reasons. Their availability to cheerleading teams is crucial. Thanks for your thoughts!
So, I want to respond to the statistic that “About two-thirds (65%) of catastrophic injuries that occur among female high school athletes result from cheerleading, ” by asking if this statistic takes into account the fact that cheer is a year round sport. This is important because other sports have a defined off season, cheer does not. Cheerleading is, in most cases, year round–Football, basketball, and a summer season. Which means that cheer is not comparable to other sports- they have more time to get injured.
If that is not taken into account, then this statistic is incredibly biased. With so many cheer teams, college especially, being grounded because of that statistic, I think it is important to clarify.