Over the past decade, cheerleading safety has garnered an increasing amount of attention. The Journal of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons confirms that more female athletes suffer injuries from cheerleading than any other sport. Cheerleading has progressively morphed into a more aggressive, acrobatic activity after the dropping of high school gymnastics programs in the 1980’s. Since then, more and more efforts and education have been put into the treatment of injuries.
The reality is that education and awareness for how to handle injuries is important, but many of them can be prevented in the first place if the right measures are taken. Below are a few of the most common causes for injuries, and preventive measures you can take to keep your gym safe:
- Lack of conditioning and physical preparedness. This can be the single most common cause for accidents and the one most easily prevented. Conditioning your athletes and keeping them hydrated will help prevent most common muscle and ligament strains and sprains. In addition, be sure to tailor stunts’ difficulty to each individual’s skill level. Keep them challenging, but not unattainable.
- Untrained instructors and coaches. The AACCA and USASF provide constantly updated safety certification courses to be sure your educated on preventing and handling injuries. Although only college level coaches are required to obtain certification, the number of high school and lower level coaches getting certified is on the rise, as it should be. In my opinion, this is step #1 to coaching.
- Inadequate supervision. There is no excuse for not having enough staff or for your staff not being attentive enough.
- Improper equipment. This goes for gym equipment, like spring floors, and for personal equipment, like cheer shoes. Having quality equipment and maintaining it is as important to safety as it is to competing.
It is important to remember that there is no way to completely prevent all injuries as being a cheerleader or athlete of any sport carries risk. However, in knowing why and how these injuries are occurring, we can take measures to prevent them. With the right information, training, and knowledge, you can drastically decrease the severity and frequency of injuries in your gym or on your clock!
Check out AACCA.org for further information on Emergency Plans and the latest Cheerleading Safety information.
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wow, this one is good, gonna use for another sport but i think it’ll be just as good, BIG thanks
interesting post, pretty much covered it all for me, thanks.
Arrg, my mouse got jammed. What I was about to say, was that this is a terrific post. Very insightful and informative at the same time.
Amazing Dude, that’s extremely helpful info, thankyou.
Wow, this was a really quality post. In theory I’d like to write like this too – taking time and actual effort to make a great article… but what can I say… I procrastinate alot and in no way seem to get something done.
I had to read your post twice to get the full impact of it. I appreciate reading what you have to say. It’s unfortunate that more people do not understand the benefits of coaching. Keep up the good work.