Cheerleaders had more concussions than football players

[FLPanhandle]

WASHINGTON — Concussions and football have become synonymous. But as it turns out, athletes who play the perceived most-violent sport may not have the most danger for concussions.

At the Knight Commission forum on Intercollegiate Athletics, former United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan asked panelists who were discussing the health, safety and well-being of college athletes to rank their level of concern for concussions in specific sports.

Football was not No. 1.

“Over the last four years, we’ve had more concussions in cheerleading than we have in football and soccer,” Georgia sports medicine director Ron Courson said.

Princeton director of athletic medicine Margot Putukian echoed this surprising sentiment.

“Wrestling is very high,” she said. “Followed by American football, ice hockey, lacrosse.”

She also mentioned rugby, which is played in the Ivy League. Soccer was not discussed or ranked on the list for Duncan.

“There’s more that we don’t know about these effects compared to what we’re learning and the risk of participating in sport is the way you look at it,” Putukian said. “There’s a much higher risk of brain injury on a bicycle, on a motorcycle, on a skateboard. Horse jockeys have 50 times the incidents of brain injury than NFL players.”

There was discussion amongst the panel — mainly between Putukian and Courson — regarding minimizing contact drills in practice. NCAA regulations currently do not address in-season, full-contact practices. The Ivy League and Pac-12 are the only conferences that have limited in-season, full-contact practices (two per week) and have policies for contact practices in spring and preseason practices. Both conferences cite safety concerns as the primary reasoning for reducing contact.

“Drills that we did 20 years ago, 30 years ago, we need to change,” Courson said. “From a rules standpoint, we can make it safer. From a practice standpoint, we can control it.”

http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/05/ugas-cheerleaders-had-more-concussions-than-football-players-says-sports-medicine-director
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Not surprising to me. When my daughter was a cheerleader in HS, the cheerleaders were in the sports medicine center more than any other group.

[Dawgs]

1. Concussions is only one issue.

The constant beating on the head and body is what is the real problem with football. The occasional concussion by cheerleaders and another sports, in my opinion, isn't nearly as bad as what we're seeing in football.

[Ex Lurker]

3. I know a guy who used to be a deep snapper in the NFL

A journeyman player, casual fans have probably never heard of him, but hardcore followers might recognize him for a key role he had in a playoff game several years ago. Deep snappers are involved in fewer collisions than any other players except punters and placekickers, but he is still a physical wreck. Mentally he seems to be okay, but he has limited range of motion in his neck, numbness in his extremities, arthritic knees, and so forth. And oh yea, he lost most of his money in an investment scam, which is why he kept playing a lot longer than he ever planned on. He does have an excellent pension waiting when he reaches...55, I think it is. I think he will clear nearly six figures annually for the rest of his life.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Cheerleading is a multi-season sport that can be year round for some athletes. Also, depending on

the database, some collect school team stats only, others collects on rec and Allstars as well.

That said, as a coach I can tell you that while we have made great strides in safety measures over the last 30 years, there is always room for improvement. To this day, cheering is not considered a sport in all 50 states, and there is no central governing body dealing with cheerleading. It is a state by state case, and many times voluntary. In my own state of Maine, the rules for high school cheer are more stringent than for elementary level. The only class I have been required to take was concussion safety, and that only started last year. I have coached for 11 years.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

4. Yyyeaaah...No

It's, like, saying there's an equivalence that doesn't exist!

[LanternWaste]

5. With safety requirements written by private companies, it's a given there would be more accidents

Seeing that competitive cheering does not qualify as a sport under Title IX, and thus is not bound by the much-more stringent safety regulations of football; and that for the most part, cheering is run by the AACCA-- a series of more than 25 private companies selling cheer equipment, running the competitions and which also set safety standards and would stand to lose money if cheering did qualify as a sport.

With safety requirements written by private companies, it's a given there would be more accidents.

[joeybee12]

6. Doesn't surprise me...the stunts they do these days...

Whatever happened to plain old cartwheels?