Cheerleading: Perkiness Leads to DEATH

[Clive]

Parks's story is among the cautionary tales emerging from the increasingly popular world of cheerleading, which has evolved from prim sideline squads leading fans in the school fight song into glitzy, high-intensity, acrobatic competitive extravaganzas. Despite a sharp increase in the number and types of cheerleading squads and the complexity of their routines, cheerleading is not officially considered a sport at most high schools and universities. As a result, it's not subject to the safety regulations that apply to gymnastics, for example.

"When people think about cheerleading, they think about the girls with the pompoms jumping up and down," said Frederick O. Mueller, a leading sports injury expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. "They don't think about someone being thrown 25 feet in the air and performing flips with twists and other risky stunts we see today."

A growing body of evidence indicates cheerleading has become one of the riskiest athletic activities for women, leaving a long trail of sprained wrists, twisted ankles, damaged knees, strained backs -- and sometimes much worse.

ARTICLE

[Uisce Beatha]

My daughter is very into athletic cheering.  She's a tiny little thing and as such has been a "flyer" since day one.  At age nine it's not 25 feet in the air but...

Yes, it concerns me. 

[Darla]

I am glad I have boys and hopefully they decide to stay away from throwing and catching the girls. Could you imagine being the one who misses that catch.

[Uisce Beatha]

I am glad I have boys and hopefully they decide to stay away from throwing and catching the girls. Could you imagine being the one who misses that catch.

NTTAWWT

[Darla]

I am glad I have boys and hopefully they decide to stay away from throwing and catching the girls. Could you imagine being the one who misses that catch.

NTTAWWT

No, but I don't want to be the mom on the side line to nervous to watch because of what might happen. It is bad enough I hold my breath when I watched the girls gymnastics on the olympics and that is what they train for. That is all that I am saying