Cheerleading: The Toughest And Dangerous Sport

“Cheerleading was the cause of more than half of the “catastrophic injuries” to female athletes” (Lyman, 205). Completive cheerleading is one of the toughest and dangerous “sport” in the nation. “In the 2010-2011 school year head injuries were associated with 1579 concussions, 361 contusions and 2,292 internal injuries” (American Association of Neurological surgeons, 2017). Kaitlyn Behnke started cheering when she was six years old. During the next fifteen years Behnke suffered five concussions. After her fourth concussion, she started to have short term memory and her long-term effects become more apparent. After her sixtieth concussions, she decided to hang up her uniform and not continue cheerleading. Lauren Chang is another example of injuries that could happen during their performance. “Chang dies on April 14th during a meet in Worcester Mass., after she was accidentally kicked in the chest while performing a “basket catch” routine” (Dorning, 2008). A basket toss is using three bases to toss the flyer into the air, two of those bases interlock their hands to create a flat surface for the flyer. The last example is Jessica Smith a nineteen-year-old cheerleader who ended up with a spinal fracture. According to her doctors she was very close of being

“Making cheerleading a sport will put it under the control of an athletic department, which will in turn require that it follow the rules and regulations other sports follow and provide the benefits other sports have” (Mueller,