As cheerleading has evolved, so has danger to students

[CShine]

Six months after a cheerleader broke her neck in a fall, Prairie View A&M University has decided to keep its squad grounded for the rest of the year as administrators weigh the risks of a sport increasingly known for its high-flying acrobatics. Across the country, more colleges and universities are deciding to limit the stunts of their cheerleading teams as the number of injuries continues to soar.

"We're going to go with a yell-type team," said Doris Price, the vice president of student and enrollment services at Prairie View A&M.

On Jan. 14, Bethany Norwood was paralyzed from the neck down after she was tossed into the air and fell. The 22-year-old from Converse has been undergoing rehabilitation in Houston and is regaining some mobility above her waist. Such injuries and accidents have already prompted other colleges to revisit their cheerleading programs, including the University of Nebraska and San Jose State University.

<snip>

But injuries doubled between 1991 and 2002, with nearly 25,000 cheerleaders getting hurt, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Another agency, the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, recorded 45 serious cheerleading accidents between 1982 and 2002, including three in which people died.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2623249

[Beatrix]

1. My friend was a cheerleader this year

she never got hurt. Though I think some of the others did. Not badly though.

[Occulus]

2. marching band/drum corps can be just as dangerous

especially on blind drill moves.

In 1994 I marched with the Madison Scouts drum and bugle corps. We were in Santa Clara, CA, for a show one night, and were chatting with one of the colorguard girls from the Santa Clara Vanguard. They told us a story of one show where two rifle lines were in a blind exchange; that is, neither line could actually see the rifles as they were coming in to be caught; they were scripted to catch them backward.

One rifle actually cracked open a member's skull. She finished the show.

Another time, in our show, one of our saber tosses got a bit out of hand. The tip of the saber (they were blunted, of course, but not totally dull) came own and sliced open the guy's face a bit. He also finished the show.

[AngryAmish]

4. Marching band is not cool

My high school had to install those membranes across the tubas to prevent "students" (I'll plead the fifth) from throwing "items" (marshmellows, batteries, bottle rockets) into the tubas. Great fun.

[Ezlivin]

3. Don't Let Cheerleaders Drive

After all, if we're really interested in their safety, driving is far more lethal.

I broke my back in a bicycle accident. While in the hospital I met other guys who'd broken their necks falling into ditches or bending over to pick up a Coke™ can. We all ended up the same: paralyzed for life.

No one warned me about the dangers of bicycles and no one told the other fellow about low lying objects. You just can't watch out for everything.

So cheer your young asses off, I say.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. Doesn't really surprise me

From time to time, I watch the cheerleading competitions on TV (great bods!), and I'm always amazed at the scary, dangerous stunts they do. Like gymnastics, the bar keeps getting raised, and the competitors have to do scarier stuff to stand out from the crowd.

[supernova]

7. It's gotten to the point

where cheerleaders are doing things at only trained circus acrobats did/do ... and only with a net.

Ameteur cheerleaders need more safety. Sorry. Doing a stunt is not worth becoming a paraplegic.

[philosophie_en_rose]

6. All Sports are a Danger to Students.

If cheerleading is banned, football should be banned as well.

[progressivebydesign]

9. Ummm other sports have safety specific equipment.

SPANDEX does not protect against injury. Any other sport which has those types of dangers also has safety equipment required to participate.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

8. From what I've seen of cheerleading

it's the sort of thing that only young people who think they're immortal could be persuaded to do.

Even gymnasts don't land on a hard floor when they fall, and gymnastics has banned certain moves from competition because they're too dangerous (e.g. Olga Korbut's backward flip off the high bar).

Having watched cheerleaders practice at one of the universities where I taught, it looked very much like the participants themselves saying, "Hey, let's see if we can do this."