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BrainLine talks with Krista Robinson, retired cheerleader and executive director of the National Cheer Safety Foundation
Krista Robinson had been cheering since 3rd grade — almost thirteen years. In 2003, at the age of 21 and captain of the cheerleading squad at the University of Memphis, she fell. Krista was the flyer — the girl on top of two to three tiers of other girls, the one who gets thrown as high as 20 feet in the air, the one who twists and twirls and wows the fans far below. As she was starting to launch a front flip, one of her teammates held onto her feet a second too long, and instead of soaring and then flipping mid-air, Krista plummeted to the ground. The ground was a 2-inch foam mat on top of concrete. Krista broke her neck in five places. She had blood clots in her brain and neck. She underwent three brain surgeries.
Today, at 27, Krista is a physical therapist’s assistant and executive director of the National Cheer Safety Foundation.
Krista talked with BrainLine about the state of cheerleading today, why cheerleading is still not considered a sport with the need for safety guidelines and trainers, and what parents, coaches, and athletes should know about safety in a sport that continues to become more risky and more competitive.
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BrainLine: You had a terrible injury in college from falling during an advanced cheerleading stunt. What has your recovery been like?
Krista: Well, it has been a long road. I went from being 21, captain of the team, blond and cute to bald with a mullet and a huge scar running across my head. I had slurred speech and emotional problems like intense anger and temper tantrums due to the damage to my frontal lobe. And then I got hydrocephalus (swelling of the brain) during the first three days I was in the hospital and had holes drilled in my head and tubes running in and out to monitor the amount of fluid on my brain.
Once my physical injuries were healed, I was pretty much on my own. I didn’t get much therapy for my brain injury.
I have made a lot of progress in the last six years. I did finish and graduate from the University of Memphis, but I returned far too early; and being there and trying to be my old self was incredibly hard and frustrating. Not only could I not remember what I was reading, but sometimes I had to close the book and look at the cover to remember what subject I was working on. Also, I was ostracized by my team. I gathered that the coach and owner of the gym told my teammates not to talk to me for fear of a lawsuit. I was really lonely and disillusioned, especially by the loss of my friends. My parents have also had a tough time acknowledging the long-term effects I have from my TBI. They could understand the broken neck, the hydrocephalus … the physical symptoms. But with the brain injury, well, we don’t really talk about it, which is difficult.
I still have some memory issues. My short-term memory problems are minor now compared to how they were a few years ago, but I still have problems remembering some of my childhood memories. They come in flashes, with parts missing. I also suffer from PTSD and depression. I take antidepressants, which help.
I have definitely made a lot of progress. I’m not 100 percent, and I don’t think I ever will be. But my work as a physical therapist’s assistant and with the foundation has been good for me. It is gratifying to help others and to work on making safety standards better for all the young girls — and guys — who are in cheer now.
BrainLine: How has cheerleading changed in the last ten years?
Krista: Cheerleading has become more popular and more competitive. There are many more squads and camps — of kids starting at younger and younger ages — and competitions go on all year long. There is no “off season.” In addition to squads in elementary, middle, high school, and college, there are open squads, called all-star teams for cheerleaders who want to continue to compete after high school or college.
These teams, which have become incredibly popular in the last several years, are strictly for competition, they are not affiliated with a school or sports team. They are the ones you see on TV. For cheerleaders who are part of high school, college, or all-star squads, they could compete as many as three weekends a month and practice daily.
BrainLine: How has cheerleading’s reputation changed? How has public recognition of the sport changed?
Krista: I hate to say this, but the change has been minor. People who aren’t in cheerleading still have the idea that cheerleaders just smile, kick up their heels, and toss pom-poms in the air. Maybe because cheerleading has become more popular and more competitive, the awareness of it as a “real” sport that comes with real injuries has heightened, but not by much … Overall, cheerleading’s reputation is still ridiculously outdated.
BrainLine: What would get people to respect cheerleading as a serious athletic endeavor — and one that can come with serious injuries?
Krista: First and foremost, the cheer industry itself would have to take it more seriously and understand that it’s an athletic sport that needs safety guidelines and trainers. The cheer industry is made up of many branches under the same umbrella company, called Varsity, which is responsible for all aspects of cheerleading, including safety. It is also a clothing company responsible for selling camp clothes, uniforms, shoes, and so on, which is the majority of the sport’s revenue. It seems that the industry’s main concern is making money from the clothing, competitions, and the camps. If cheerleading were a sport and regulated likewise, it would limit the cheer season, practice, and competition times and distances, which would be a start to making it safer. It would also develop strict safety guidelines. In my opinion, the industry only makes changes that give an appearance of change. They are not working seriously toward a real sea change.
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I wanted to address comments made about Varsity in this interview. Varsity is the largest organization of its kind, but is by no means the only organization involved in camp education and competitive events, as indicated above. We have a deep commitment to the safety of cheerleaders. In 1987, when we felt that cheerleading did not have adequate safety precautions in place, Varsity founded the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators (AACCA), a nonprofit organization dedicated to creating safety standards and guidelines for cheerleading coaches. This was not in reaction to any specific incident, but a realization that cheerleading needed to be a safer environment for athletes. We strongly disagree with Ms. Parks [Robinson] opinion that the industry only makes changes that give the appearance of change. Our staff members include former cheerleaders, coaches and parents of cheerleaders. Nothing is more important to us than ensuring that this is a safe activity for all athletes. At our cheerleading camps, every one of the nearly 350,000 participants attends a safety awareness course developed to help cheerleaders understand their role in cheerleading safety. We have athletic trainers and certified first aiders at every event, with EMTs onsite or within a 5 mile radius. We utilize an established Emergency Action Plan for every event. We have mats in rehearsal areas and on the performance surface at every venue, as well as trained spotters. We encourage coaches to become certified as their first step in safety training, with the expectation that coaches’ development will be a lifelong endeavor. We wish Ms. Parks [Robinson] the best as she continues to heal from her injury. Ms. Parks [Robinson] was a summer staff member for our organization and we will always feel she is a part of the Varsity family. - Sheila Noone, VP of Public Relations, Varsity
Mar 8th, 2010 1:37pm