Cheerleading Responsible for Catastrophic Injuries

August 2008

As more and more cheerleading teams use athletically-demanding stunts, injury rates have increased over the last 25 years. According to a new nationwide study, conducted by the University of North Carolina's National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, cheerleading is responsible for two-thirds of sports-related injuries or deaths in high school girls.

The rate for catastrophic injuries – death, permanent disabilities, skull fractures, and more – was two injuries out of 100,000 athletes last year. For football, this rate is 3.2 injuries for every 100,000 athletes. Between 1982 and 2007, 67 of the 103 female high school students who suffered sports-related catastrophic injuries were cheerleaders.

New stunts like the basket toss, which requires a cheerleader to be thrown 20 feet in the air and then be caught by her teammates, have been deemed dangerous. Other dangerous stunts include the helicopter toss, in which a cheerleader must make a 180-degree turn after being thrown in the air.