Article: Cheerleading Most Dangerous Sport

rhinestonecrown · Veteran Member

Article: Cheerleading Most Dangerous Sport

tracy · Veteran Member

Cheerleading is dangerous when the coaches aren't educated. It's difficult to watch volunteers cluster up to 20 girls and ask the girls to work on stunting skills when the coach sits back and tell the girls that she doesn't know anything about cheerleading.

RinestoneCrown: Are you going to pull your cheerleaders out of the sport now that your read this article?

LadyW · Senior Member

or when you have college level cheerleaders coaching jr high cheerleaders and teaching them level 6 stunts (because its cool and fun) --- luckily my daughter has some early all-star experience and knew that they were asking her to perform (fly) college level tricks and refused to do them...Told me that night and I immediatley went to the advisor, and the athletic director the next day.

rhinestonecrown · Veteran Member

No I am not pulling my daughter out of cheer, she isn't doing all star this year but will do it next year as she is aging out of the youth program. While we have done all star and youth before this year it was just too much with my other children and their activities as well. Plus with this being her last year she really wanted to be with her friends on the team from youth. She will continue with cheer next year because I have faith in the coaching staff of the team she will be on next season. These individuals have been in the "cheer world" for a very long time and have the credentials they need to coach the girls they have.

I agree with the other poster, there are coaches out there that don't have a clue on what they are doing but are quick to open a gym and put children at risk of getting hurt or worse to turn a buck and call themselves and all star team. Some of these recent gyms who opened and are volunteers from other youth football and cheer teeams not credentialed, having girls doing stunts on concrete surfaces with no foam covered by just a thin roll of gym carpet. Which is just ridiculous to me. Coaches who are teaching, stunting and tumbling skills and have NO CLUE what they are doing which is why most of their girls go to the local gymnastics facility instead of doing their tumbling in house as they want them too. This gym knows exactly who they are because they recruited my daughter relentlessly until I finally said stop sending me emails.

Got off the topic a bit, but yes she will be cheering next year.

tracy · Veteran Member

RhinestoneCrown: You mentioned that you are in the youth program this season. Do you trust the youth coaches have the qualifications needed to be safe with your daughter this season?

It's not out of the normal for youth volunteered coaches to be rotated in and out of their roles. It's really difficult to find a volunteer that knows little about cheerleading these days. After all they are volunteers giving up many, many hours of their own time.

It's the school coaching and youth volunteers that these types are articles are written about. These articles are then generalized and the entire cheer world take the continual wrath of having to defend and define the difference between the all-Stars and EVERYONE else.

I wouldn't mind seeing the youth programs grounded (not able to stunt). The statistics would drop dramatically. Then you would eliminate those youth coaches that turn themselves into all-star coaches. The separation would finally exist and then we could see a true statistic about cheerleading.

Until then we must live with those youth coaches who jump in the all-star world because they think they can run an all star program well. It is scary! No doubt about it. There are a few my our area. I wouldn't trust them either. But it's the naive parents and cheerleaders that sign up at these places because they want to follow their coaches from the youth leagues or they have a friend on the team. They just don't know any better.

The good thing is you don't see existing all star cheerleaders jumping from their established all star gyms and joining these new little popup gyms. The all star cheerleaders and parents have enough sense to realize that cheerleading is more than a personal friendships. Kids will still be friends at school and at the competitions. All Star parents want the sense of security that an existing all star program can provide.

The new coaches will push to try to prove they can "run with the big dogs" and they will push their cheerleaders to try more and more difficult stunting elements or get that next tumbling skill. That is when some gets hurt.

rhinestonecrown · Veteran Member

I understood the article and what is was speaking of and thought it was a good topic of conversation due to the amount of injuries especially those fatal ones that have occured in school, youth and all star squads.

I agree there are a TON of new gyms popping not only in our area but others as well that are run by coaches from pop warner or other youth groups. I won't mention names of any of the gyms but I know one had YEARS of experience in youth, highschool and received all credentialing needed BEFORE opening the gym and the other opened it up stating they had all their credentials but when you checked into things you found out that they had some lower level credential, no tumbling credentialing but offers tumbling. I have checked out our options for next season as we were going to join this season and decided to let her have her last year with youth cheer. In all of the I guess "investigating" you can call it there are two gyms in the area I would be comfortable with having my daughter join next season. Neither of which is in their first year of operation.

This year I will not be taking her out of cheer and yes I do feel comfortable with the coaches she has on "her team" as both of them are USASF certified and have been for years and not only volunteer for her team but one has worked for Jamz and the other has worked for USA so they are both very experienced and credentialed. Yes some of the other teams do not have the more experienced coaches and have parents helping out, if that were the case I may still leave her in to finish her year with her friends but would be more cautious of the things I would allow her to do such as flying if her coaches were not as experienced.

Hopefully Tracy that answered your question. Does your daughter cheer for youth or AS?

tracy · Veteran Member

I have a couple of cheerleaders in the household here. The oldest one started in the youth program for a couple of seasons and then moved into the AS world. My younger daughter is born and raised in the AS. I wouldn't have it any other way! that's for sure.

I really think it's sad to hear that there are gyms out there that are certified at the lower levels and are offering tumbling with no knowledge at all. Do they realize the liability for such consequences? Gosh, I just shutter to think that there are gyms out there that are able to attract a clientele and could potentially lead their clients down a dangerous path. Is it just for the $$$. Probably so.

I certainly hope that parents wise up and learn to research the local gyms in their neighborhoods. It's so important to know that the lowest bidder is not always the best for the job. I guess my grand father was right. You do get what you pay for!

rhinestonecrown · Veteran Member

I agree, my daughter and I will be at cheer comps local to the Sac area as she has a number of friends on AS and will be there to support them and I just love to watch the sport. Maybe we will run into one another. Which team are your girls on? If not comfortable with posting it here, IM me.

tracy · Veteran Member

rhinestonecrown wrote:

I agree, my daughter and I will be at cheer comps local to the Sac area as she has a number of friends on AS and will be there to support them and I just love to watch the sport. Maybe we will run into one another. Which team are your girls on? If not comfortable with posting it here, IM me.

Good luck to you this season! I enjoyed the conversation. I will at this point keep from answering your last question. The gym I belong has asked that people not participate in message board drama and I do enjoy chatting with people and reading these boards once in awhile. I did send you a personal message awhile back hopefully you will reply.

codismom · Veteran Member

When people tell me that cheer is the most dangerous sport I explain that (in my opinion) the majority of those injuries/statistics come from high school or college teams that are practicing and performing stunts and tumbling on either a flat mat, grass, or basketball floor. I believe there is a difference in injuries on those surfaces vs. a matted spring floor as is used in the majority of All Star Programs. I would much rather my daughter be dropped on a spring floor surface than a basketball floor (of course, I would rather her not be dropped at all

Additionally, I believe, as others have stated, that the training and experience of the coaches are also a big factor for BOTH high school and All Star cheer. I always stress the importance of that to potential parents.

Finally, while I know cheer CAN be dangerous, I also realize ANY sport can be dangerous in the right (or rather, wrong) situation and at the end of the day, you can get a serious injury crossing the street...

codismom · Veteran Member

Wanted to add that my daughter is going on her 9th year of cheer and has never sustained any injury...I credit that a little bit to luck but A LOT to her amazing coaches!!