2008 Woodie Awards
Cheerleading most dangerous sport for females
Ryan Boetel
Issue date: 9/5/08 Section: News
What's more dangerous, playing football or cheering for football players?
A recent study published in HealthDay News muddles this seemingly easy question.
According to the study, cheerleading has accounted for 66.7 percent of all injuries to female college athletes in the past 25 years, including 67 fatalities.
But the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletic Department has taken steps to keep the cheerleaders out of hospitals and on the sidelines.
Marlon Lozano, spirit squad manager at UNL, said the university and Nebraska high schools no longer allow stunting, which is when cheerleaders lift each other up, or tumbling, when they incorporate flips into the cheer.
Tumbling was brought to an end after a 1996 accident that left former University of Nebraska cheerleader Tracy Jensen temporarily paralyzed. Stunting was phased out two years ago.
But that doesn't mean NU cheerleaders haven't been injured doing stunts in the past.
Elicia Dover, a cheerleader at UNL, was a high school cheerleader in Arkansas - where cheerleaders are allowed to flip and stunt as they please.
"(Cheerleading) is a bit more competitive down south," said Dover, a junior news-editorial and broadcasting major. "I was injured constantly."
Dover still remembers one botched, particularly gruesome cheer.
Dover and three other cheerleaders were practicing a stunt with three girls making a base and hoisting one in the air.
"As a base we are taught to catch the girl on top no matter what," she said.
Dover noticed the girl on top falling backward and tried to catch her before she fell head-first. But Dover could only get as far as the girl's legs, before they hit her head and violently jerked Dover's neck back. Another girl went for the head, too, but got hit in the face instead and lost a few teeth. The girl fell head-first anyway and lost consciousness.
"Cheerleading accidents tend to be catastrophic," Dover said. "But at Nebraska, cheerleading is basically just cheering."
A recent study published in HealthDay News muddles this seemingly easy question.
According to the study, cheerleading has accounted for 66.7 percent of all injuries to female college athletes in the past 25 years, including 67 fatalities.
But the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletic Department has taken steps to keep the cheerleaders out of hospitals and on the sidelines.
Marlon Lozano, spirit squad manager at UNL, said the university and Nebraska high schools no longer allow stunting, which is when cheerleaders lift each other up, or tumbling, when they incorporate flips into the cheer.
Tumbling was brought to an end after a 1996 accident that left former University of Nebraska cheerleader Tracy Jensen temporarily paralyzed. Stunting was phased out two years ago.
But that doesn't mean NU cheerleaders haven't been injured doing stunts in the past.
Elicia Dover, a cheerleader at UNL, was a high school cheerleader in Arkansas - where cheerleaders are allowed to flip and stunt as they please.
"(Cheerleading) is a bit more competitive down south," said Dover, a junior news-editorial and broadcasting major. "I was injured constantly."
Dover still remembers one botched, particularly gruesome cheer.
Dover and three other cheerleaders were practicing a stunt with three girls making a base and hoisting one in the air.
"As a base we are taught to catch the girl on top no matter what," she said.
Dover noticed the girl on top falling backward and tried to catch her before she fell head-first. But Dover could only get as far as the girl's legs, before they hit her head and violently jerked Dover's neck back. Another girl went for the head, too, but got hit in the face instead and lost a few teeth. The girl fell head-first anyway and lost consciousness.
"Cheerleading accidents tend to be catastrophic," Dover said. "But at Nebraska, cheerleading is basically just cheering."
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
TM
posted 9/05/08 @ 2:09 PM CST
I thought the article about cheerleading was good for the most part. Thanks for focusing on NU cheerleaders, however the coverage about catastrophic
injuries is old news and your stats are incorrect. (Continued…)
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