From acrobatic stunts to mid-air tosses, cheerleading has
increasingly been labeled one of the most dangerous athletic activities for
young people. In response, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has
released a set of guidelines for coaches, parents and school officials in an
attempt to prevent injuries. “We’ve recently been seeing an increase in the
number of cheerleading injuries,” said Dr. Jeffrey Mjaanes, co-author of the
AAP guidelines. ”There’s been a huge increase in the number of
participants so it’s logical that the number of injuries will also increase. So
we presented these guidelines to get it under control and hopefully decrease
the growing number of injuries.”
One of the main concerns is that although so many high schools and
colleges have cheerleading squads, few of them consider cheerleading a sport.
And without that classification, cheerleading is not subject to the same rules
and regulations as activities that are officially considered sports. “In many
states and areas, cheerleading is not considered a sanctioned sport. It’s often
more of a club sport,” Mjaanes said. “When an activity is considered a club
sport instead of a sanctioned sport, it tends to get a little haphazard in
terms of coaching qualifications, safety nets, facility adequacy. So we’re
trying to encourage state schools to make cheerleading a sanctioned sport to
increase acceptability to good medical care, qualified coaches,
adequate facilities and injury surveillance.”
The AAP is also urging schools to take precautionary measures such as
limits on the height of pyramid formations and surfaces where stunts can
be performed. It also recommends pre-season physicals and better training. “The
injuries that are the most common are ankle and knee sprains but we’re most
concerned about catastrophic injuries, usually involving the head or neck,” Dr.
Mjaanes said. “The average is only about five a year so it’s uncommon but
absolutely devastating for the athlete who suffers them. We’re trying to
decrease that rate. And those tend to occur in the stunts, pyramids.”
ABC News
Please share
No comments:
Post a Comment