Cheerleaders and Cheers at My High School's Football Game

Last night, I went to see my alma mater high school play its sister school in the first game of the football season. I happened to catch the second half of the sophomore game as well. The cheerleaders were performing right in front of us. Among their cheers included a difficult to perform pyramid. Furthermore, the sophomore cheerleaders also performed the patented flip where one cheerleader is hurled in the air and then is caught by the group. If you ever watch a college basketball game, this is usually done by several male cheerleaders throwing a female and then catching her. This time, it was females throwing other females and catching them. Watching these sophomores perform this maneuver was truly frightening. These girls were neither comfortable doing it, and they weren't performing it with ease. Each time they did, I felt as though it was only a matter of time before they dropped the girl they flipped. They performed this trick on the track. This is a track I have run on, and had they dropped the girl, it would have lead to serious bodily harm. When these tricks go bad, it is life threatening...





In fact, cheerleading leads the way in juries of all high school activities.

Cheerleaders may make spunky school spirit from the sidelines seem simple, but cheerleading these days is far more than just a carefree sideshow to get the crowd going. It is its very own competitive sport filled with its own serious skill sets and dangers. In fact, a new report shows that cheerleading is the No. 1 sport for severe injuries in high-school and college female athletes.

In the past 25 years, cheerleading accounted for 65% of all "catastrophic" sports injuries (major trauma, permanent disabilities, or death) in high-school girls and about 67% of those in college, according to a report by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research.

Citing "gymnastics-type stunts" as one of the main reasons for so many serious injuries, the report points out the Consumer Product Safety Commission's (CPSC) estimates showing nearly six times more cheerleading injuries in 2004 (more than 28,000) than in 1980 (almost 5,000).

Then, at the beginning of the varsity game, the PA announcer announced that new rules dictated that fans could only root for their own team, not against the other. The fans were no longer alloowed to boo. They couldn't say anything disparaging about the other team.



Now, my buddy who was with me at the game told me a story that made this rule sensible. He was watching his step son in wrestling a few years ago. The opponent's father was filming the match and yelling disparaging remarks at his step son throughout the match. His step son was getting crushed something like 11-1 when right at the end of the match he reversed the other guy and pinned him and gained a stunning victory. Then, my friend walked up to the opponent's father and began talking trash into th camera. Of course, this eventually lead to a near confrontation between the two. So, these sorts of incidents would be avoided by this rule.



Still, at the football game, each side's fans sit on opposite end of the stadium. As such, there is no risk of confrontation. There is, however, a great risk of injury during highly acrobatic cheerleading maneuvers. It seemed to me that my high school was obsessing with a silly rule while overlooking a legitimate risk. I am not sure if varsity cheerleaders should be doing the high flying flips, however there is no way that sophomores should.



Now, some may say that if I want to ban some acrobatic maneuvers where will it stop. Why not ban football altogether? After all, that is even more dangerous. First, football players wear plenty of padding to protect against injuries. Second, when football players sign, they sign up for a violent sport. I doubt any cheerleader is signing up recognizing that her head could get bashed in during a highly acrobatic maneuver. As for the rule against booing, well, maybe if the school board spent less time with silly rules, they might even find time to create a sensible one or two.