Doctors: Make cheerleading a sport

A SportsJournalists.com favorite gets new life, thanks to the American Academy of Pediatrics:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/10/22/163408123/as-cheerleading-injuries-rise-doctors-call-for-stricter-safety-rules

 

Dear AAP:

You don't need to make it a sport to enact stricter safety rules.

Sincerely,

Every Prep Sportswriter in America

 

Please, please don't make it a sport.

 

I just punched a hobo and this thread is why.

 

Wait a minute, you need an excuse to punch a hobo? I thought that was just a service to the community, at the very least an inexpensive form of entertainment. Here's a thought, why not ban cheerleaders on the sidelines or ban them from performing the highflying acrobatics. No need to make it a sport and cost other athletes scholarships.

 

The rationale for designating cheerleading a sport is made in the first of 12 recommendations by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2012/10/15/peds.2012-2480.full.pdf+html

The American Academy of Pediatrics
recommends that its chapters and individual
pediatricians, especially those as other sports, such as availability
of athletic trainers, improved
access to medical care, limits on
practice time, better facilities,
certified/qualified coaches, and
inclusion in injury surveillance
data.
1. Cheerleading should be designated
a sport so that it is subject to rules
and regulations set forth by sports
governing bodies (eg, NCAA, NFHS)
and school athletic departments.
Designation of cheerleading as a
sport will afford it the same benefits
2. Cheerleaders should have a preparticipation
physical examination
before participating in a cheerleading
program and should have
access to appropriate strength
and conditioning programs.
3. Cheerleaders should be supervised
by qualified coaches who have been
trained and certified in proper spotting
for gymnastics and partner
stunts, safety measures, and basic
injury management.
4. Cheerleaders should be trained in
proper spotting techniques and
should only attempt stunts after
they have demonstrated appropriate
skill progression and proficiency
required to complete the
stunt. Spotters and bases should
have adequate upper body and
core strength and balance to support
flyers.
5. Technical skills, such as pyramids,
mounts, tosses, and tumbling,
should not be performed on hard
(eg, concrete, asphalt), wet, or uneven
surfaces or surfaces with
obstructions. No cheer events
should take place on dirt, vinyl
floors, concrete, or asphalt.
6. Pyramidsavailability and partner
stunts should only be performed
on a spring floor or with a landing
mat on either a traditional foam
floor or grass/turf.
7. Pyramids should not be more
than 2 people high and should
only be performed with spotters.
8. Coaches should follow rules for
execution of technical skills set
forth in the most recent version
of the NFHS Spirit Rules Handbook (http://www.nfhs.com/c-229-spirit.
aspx) and the AACCA Cheerleading
Safety Manual (http://aacca.org/
content.aspx?item=Safety/2011-
12SchoolCheerleadingRules.xml).
9. Coaches, parents, and athletes
should have access to a written
emergency plan, designed by school
administrators in conjunction
with the team physician and/
or certified athletic trainer. Whenever
possible, a certified athletic
trainer or physician should be
present at practices and competitions.
10. Cheer competitions should be
held in venues that are compliant
with guidelines of the National
Cheer Safety Foundation and the
AACCA.
11. Any cheerleader showing signs of
a head injury should be removed
from practice or competition and
not allowed to return until he or
she has received written clearance
from a physician or qualified health
care provider. Coaches, parents,
and officials should be knowledgeable
regarding the cause, prevention,
recognition, and response to
concussion. Free online educational
materials are available through the
Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/
concussion/) and the NFHS (http://
www.nfhs.org).
12. Surveillance of cheerleading injuries
should continue. All catastrophic
injuries should be reported to
the National Center for Catastrophic
Sports Injury Research
at Mueller@e-mail.unc.edu or National
Cheer Safety Foundation at
http://nationalcheersafety.com or
by calling their Injury Reporting
Hotline at 1-800-596-7860 ext 201.
Research regarding injury epidemiology,
mechanisms, and effectiveness
of safety measures is
necessary to guide new rules and recommendations for improving
safety.
serving as school physicians, advisors,
or consultants, work with their interscholastic
athletic associations and
other state and local cheerleading
regulating bodies to ensure that the
following guidelines are followed to
reduce cheerleading injuries.

 

Or simply make it about leading cheers, instead of all the stunting, pyramids, hip-grinding and elementary gymnastics?

 

The concocted structure of making it a "sport" is in fact the reason for all the 25-foot-high pyramids, reverse somersault dismounts, etc etc etc.

If the doctors were really all that concerned about injuries, they would demand it NOT be conducted as a competitive sport.

 

Here we go with the "what constitutes a real sport debate", version 999.

OK, if curling can be an Olympic sport, why not cheerleading? But making it an official sport doesn't mean I have to care about it.

Although I've been at games where the cheerleading was, by far, the most entertaining aspect of the evening. So there's that.

 

Well, there used to be (and still is in some selected places) an actual sport called "gymnastics," which has been essentially killed by the rise of cheerleading and "dance team" at most schools, siphoning off the potential participants (and money from the athletic departments).

 

but cheerleaders get nailed by all the best football players!!