Cheerleading has become dangerous business these days.  This report by Deseret News in Utah says “More Utah high school students are injured cheerleading than playing baseball/softball, soccer, volleyball or wrestling, according to a report by Utah Department of Health Violence and Injury Prevention Program.” While this only covers one state, I doubt that the cheerleaders in Utah are doing anything different that the rest of the United States, especially since there seems to be an abundance of national competitions.  As a trained dancer, I used to watch the cheer team at my high school and think that they were pretty lame, but these days, cheerleaders are the real deal, doing advanced gymnastics and lots of maneuvers that require professional training.  It is crucial that these students understand their bodies and how to avoid injury.  If you have a cheerleader, or aspiring member of a cheer team check out this article, and make sure your child has the proper training for stunts, flips and injury avoidance. 

I was astounded to find out that 16 percent of cheerleading injuries reported were head traumas.  This report indicates that these students are missing lots of school, many times a week or more, for an extracurricular activity.  Again, there is the chance that this is a localized problem, but somehow, I don’t think so.  Seriously, if you are the parent of a cheerleader, check out the coach and their training----make sure that your child is being taught not only to do the fancy tricks, but also how to take care of their bodies for the long haul.