As Cheerleaders Soar Higher, So Do the Risks

Cheerleading over the past couple years have definitely made a new name for the sport. In an article from the New York Times As Cheerleaders Soar Higher, So Do the Risks they address the many concerns about the sport today. The article states that emergency room visits for cheerleading injuries nationwide have more then doubled since the early 1990's. The rate of life- threatening injuries has also startled researchers. Another popular topic that is brought up is how many things done during games would be against N.C.A.A regulations but since many states don't consider cheerleading a sport no rules are being broken. New acrobatic moves have turned each cheerleader into a daredevil. While the sport always had a sense of glamour now taped wrists, knee braces, and ankle braces have become a natural "fashion statement" in the cheerleading world. Having bags of ice covering cheerleader’s body's these days after a hard practice people view it as being just as common as the mascara they wear. No one never really understood the dangers of cheerleading until the media started to publicize them. Jessica Smith, an 18-year-old cheerleader at Sacramento City College, broke her neck in two places five months ago when a botched stunt dropped her headfirst from a height of about 15 feet. On any big squad in order to join they make you sign a medical wavier, Smith says now that they should just tell an athlete that they are signing a death waiver after she was thrown in the air and was 2 millimeters from ending up in a wheel chair. After the accident Smith's life changed forever. Her movement was restricted, she dropped out of school, and she rarely slept at night due to reoccurring flashbacks of the accident. Cheerleading is a sport where one must trust that someone will always be there for them but just like any other sport accidents happen. “Still, I’m one of the lucky ones,” she said. “Some people don’t walk away from a cheerleading fall.” Smith ended up suing Sacramento City College for negligence. “Everyone thought cheerleading was jumping up and down and yelling to the crowd, which seemed pretty harmless,” said Brenda Shields coordinator of an injury research center at the Columbus Children’s Hospital in Ohio. “No one knew how much cheerleading had changed,” Shields said. “Once we looked at the data, the numbers were a bit of a shock, and that’s when we realized the risks involved.” Cheerleading has evolved to a whole new level and every day one new person understands the potential risks that come with this sport.

As Cheerleaders Soar Higher, So Do the Risks
By BILL PENNINGTON

Published: March 31, 2007