Page Utilities
BrainLine (page 2 of 3) Page 2 of 3
Whether certain stunts are covered by insurance has seemed like the only way the industry has paid attention. There was a high-profile case a few years ago when a girl — the flyer — was thrown up in a basket toss and fell, landing on her head on the wooden floor of a basketball court. She survived, but she sustained a serious, life-changing spinal injury. When the insurance companies involved said they would no longer cover these sorts of stunts — specifically basket tosses on wooden floors — the cheerleading industry backed it. But the industry didn’t go far enough and still allows basket tosses and other high-risk stunts on grass or other surfaces as hard as basketball courts.
The fact is that if cheerleading were treated as the sport that it is, with real risks and injuries, it would be more costly and the cheerleading industry would lose money. Major contributors who support an all-year season would pull out. And if athletic trainers were required on the sidelines that would also be a significant cost. I think the industry just wants to keep the money flowing and brush the safety issues under the rug.
BrainLine: What has helped people understand that cheerleading is a real sport with real injuries?
Krista: I think a lot depends on the leadership of the coaches and the parents. I have talked to some coaches who are incredibly proactive about keeping their squads safe. On the other end of the spectrum, there are coaches who don’t have any training and don’t even know what they don’t know. Many coaches are not trained in CPR or first response and many of them do not even know what a traumatic brain injury is or what to do if an athlete hits her head. It’s not uncommon, for example, for a middle or high school to appoint a new teacher to coach cheer, or to pick the person on the staff who cheered back in 1978 because she is the only one who knows anything about the sport. Then these coaches will try to do stuff they see on TV or YouTube … and in a gym on wrestling mats.
And most times, practices are closed to parents. They don’t see what goes on in practice, only at the competitions. They assume all is well and that the coaches are taking the necessary precautions to keep their athletes safe. We had a girl on a squad who ruptured her spleen after taking a serious fall. The coach told her she just got the wind knocked out of her and to walk around and keep her arms above her head. The girl died later that day. Had parents been present, or better yet, an athletic trainer, the outcome may have been different.
Cheerleading is even worse than sports like football and hockey in terms of awareness of the dangers of concussions and repeat concussions. I can’t tell you how many times I hear from coaches, parents, and the cheerleaders themselves: “If it’s not broken or bleeding, you’re fine.”
BrainLine: Why was the National Cheer Safety Foundation started? Who is involved?
Krista: The National Cheer Safety Foundation was founded in 2005 by Kimberly Archer, a mother whose daughter was injured cheerleading. She broke one of her arms — it was a compound fracture where the bone stuck through her skin. She had plates put in her arm and once she was through rehab she tried to return to cheer. That’s how crazy cheerleaders and cheer parents can be! It’s all about the competition with little attention paid to long-term consequences.
This mother began researching the safety issues around cheerleading and started the foundation to raise awareness about the risks of the sport and improve safety.
As the executive director of the foundation, I want to emphasize that we are not trying to ban cheerleading or any of the stunts. It’s an amazing sport and to compete is like nothing else. What we do want is to make sure that cheerleading is taught and performed as properly and safely as possible.
BrainLine: Are there safety guidelines? Who is developing them?
Krista: We are currently working on creating standard guidelines, which we believe will help our mission and, if adopted and promoted by the industry, will make a significant difference in keeping cheerleaders safe. We have been collaborating with sports medicine professionals — incorporating their knowledge and emergency plans and putting that together with ideas borrowed from other sports like gymnastics and ice skating.
BrainLine: What are the statistics for brain injuries — and other injuries — from cheerleading accidents?
Krista: Previously, cheerleading injuries were not tracked specifically. We have been working with the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research and over the last few years we have compiled the following statistics:
- Cheerleading is the #1 cause of catastrophic sports injuries in girls in high school and college — injuries that lead to permanent disabilities or death.
- 93 percent of cheer injuries occur on hard surfaces like gym floors, asphalt, grass, and concrete covered with thin mats.
We are just starting to look more closely at the statistics for brain injuries in cheerleading. We don’t have any hard numbers yet, but we know that concussions are not uncommon. You throw a girl 10-20 feet in the air to do twists and turns and then to be caught by girls her same size … well, serious falls that involve the head and neck don’t seem too far out of the realm of possibility.
BrainLine: What is the most common cheerleading injury?
Krista: Overuse injuries like ligament tears and muscle damage are the most common injuries because most cheer squads practice for several hours about 4-5 times a week.
Generally, the flyers are the ones who sustain the more catastrophic injuries like broken necks, spines, and traumatic brain injuries, while the bases and spotters tend to get more black eyes, knee problems, and back strain.
BrainLine: What changes do you think need to be made in cheerleading to keep cheerleaders safe?
BrainLine
See All TBI Topics
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