Drills and Spills
As cheerleaders fly higher, injury rates rise and some falls are crippling, even fatal. New rules could help.

By Arian Campo-Flores
Newsweek
It was a dream come true for Ashley Burns when the lithe 14-year-old with the blue-ribboned ponytail and squeaky voice learned in July that she’d landed a cherished spot on the varsity cheerleading squad at Medford Vocational-Technical High School in Massachusetts. To celebrate, she and a friend got pedicures and tooled around town in a convertible blasting their favorite tunes. One week after joining the team, Burns was at practice, preparing to perform a stunt called a “double down.” Held aloft by four cheerleaders gripping one of her feet, she was thrust into the air. But instead of completing two twists and landing on her back in her teammates’ arms, she landed hard on her stomach, rupturing her spleen. An hour later, she was pronounced dead. Her family was left with the scant consolation expressed by a former teammate on a Web memorial: “You left us doing something you and I both love.”
Supremely athletic and intensely competitive, modern cheerleading is far more dangerous than it was in the days of pom-poms and megaphones. A year-round pursuit whose popularity has grown thanks to an influx of gymnasts seeking greater exposure, it has evolved so quickly that the regulatory bodies in charge of preventing sports injuries have struggled to keep up. The numbers tell the tale: emergency-room visits for cheerleading injuries—often fractures, dislocations and sprains—jumped from 15,700 in 1994 to 28,400 in 2004, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Though much of that increase results from the growing number of cheerleaders nationwide—now estimated at about 1.5 million—there’s little doubt that riskier stunts have contributed as well. Even more troubling, catastrophic injuries—those involving severe skull or spinal damage—are also on the rise, according to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSI). Of the 101 such injuries among female high-school and college athletes between 1983 and 2004, the center reports, 55 percent resulted from cheerleading.
“Fliers” like Burns, who are flung into the air as they perform acrobatic moves, face the greatest risk. Injury rates are “exponentially higher for a flier than for a footballer,” says NCCSI’s Robert Cantu. Compounding the risks of injury, says Cantu, some inexperienced coaches allow—or encourage—cheerleaders to perform moves beyond their skill.
Some parents are lobbying for greater regulation. Pete Buczek—whose daughter Ashlee fractured her skull in a 2003 cheerleading injury (she has since recovered)—was able to get a law passed in Indiana this year that calls for the state to come up with new safety rules. But Susan Loomis, spirit-rules director for the National Federation of State High School Associations, says a rule book has been in place since 1987 and is updated annually. The problem, she says, is that the federation can’t force states to abide by those rules. Though about 20 states classify cheerleading as a sport—triggering strict requirements such as access to an athletic trainer—other states treat it as a more loosely governed “activity.” “No one can really agree on what we are or who we are,” Loomis says.
Confusion also prevails in the all-star cheerleading world. Composed of cheerleaders who perform solely at private competitions and have no connection to a school, all-star squads are unregulated. The result, until recently: a byzantine mess as different competitions enforced different rules and some permitted riskier moves, says Jim Chadwick of the U.S. All Star Federation. To create order, the all-star world united under USASF’s umbrella in March and established a uniform set of rules and competition levels.
College cheerleading is enduring its own safety crackdown. Faced with the prospect that cheerleaders could lose insurance coverage and end up grounded—nearly one quarter of its $12 million in catastrophic claims costs since 1998 were the result of cheerleading injuries—the NCAA announced a new requirement this summer: by August 2006, all cheerleading squads must be supervised by a safety-certified coach or adviser. College cheerleaders also face new limitations on moves.
The newly restrictive regime has roiled places like Louisville Cheer & Dance Co., the training gym for a stellar lineup of teams, from pee-wee all-stars to the University of Louisville squad. Among the college kids, disgruntlement reigns. “You work your whole cheer career to get elite skills,” says Ries Brooks, a freshman who turned down Harvard to join the Louisville team. “Then they change the rules.” Katie Wigginton, a high-school senior, has a more sanguine view of the all-star reforms. “If I’m competing, I want to be safe,” she says. Once, training as a flier, she landed on her head, spraining her neck. “That was enough to keep me on the ground,” she says. Tragically, Ashley Burns never got a second chance.
With Ben Whitford and Jessica Silver-Greenberg
© 2005 Newsweek, Inc.

I am coming home this weekend! And I can’t wait! Everyday down is one less till I get to be back with my friends and family! And it’s Angela’s birthday which makes it extra special! I love you girly! But back to Spanish..just thought I’d let ya all know!

Amanda

yes..even at a dry campus you still run into drunk roommates..although of the three drunk people that slept in our room last night, only one of them actually lived there. The other two aren’t quite sure how they ended up there. I was on my way to bed and all of a sudden my friend Jacob shows up with my roommate and our friend–both of them too drunk to walk straight. Then around 2:30 my other friend shows up and has no idea where they are or how they got there. So a broken towel bar, some spilled make-up, several sessions of putting them in bed, and a few less hours of sleep later, they finally went to bed. Gotta love those roomies..although, I really do love them. They aren’t perfect, but God put them in my life for a reason. But I am off to write a paper..just thought I write a little about my eventful evening!

Amanda

I am so excited–it’s 3:00 on Friday and I am done for the week! All my roommates are gone which kinda stinks, but I am going to to to bed early tonight. I am exhausted.. and I have so much to write about..but so many different people read this and for fear of offending anyone I am just going to keep my mouth shut and perhaps start a new blog..well, maybe not..but it does stink to not be able to write on my own blog..although, I hate it when people write on their blog instead of talking to people so I don’t want to be lumped into that category.

On a different note, I got told today to be more enthusiastic and excited–never heard that one before..but I will work on that:) hee hee

off to take a nap..

Amanda

I don’t know how I am going to survive this week..it’s 4:30 Monday and I am physically and emotionally drained and I have probably the most hectic week I have had since I came to college. Hopefully I will see you on the other side..

I am sitting here in our computer lab because I can’t get into my room..yeah, I know–weird concept huh? but oh well..that’s part of going to a public college. (for those of you completely lost, it’s ok..) Funny how life is sometimes..you get going on this major high and then all of a sudden it’s like crash and burn. Although I haven’t crashed and burned..I can see it in some of my friends and it saddens me greatly. And even in my own life, I can see areas where I have made compromises and done things that are definately in the gray area. But that’s part of growing up, the only thing is–you have to be able to realize your mistakes and correct them..not continue living in them. God calls us to a higher standard..He calls to be above reproach-to always have an answer for the hope in us–to be like Christ. But what happens when we lost sight of God-what happens when we lose that God-conscious attitude. We start to do things we never would have done..especially being college students-we don’t have authority constantly watching us and checking up on us. But we can never get away from God. Nothing we do is in secret. Yeah, parents, teachers, pastors etc. may never find out-but God knows. And we can’t hide forever–eventually our sin will find you out and our deeds done in the dark will come to the light. Being comfortable is not an excuse. No one knowing is not an excuse because even if no one ever finds out on this earth-someday we will have to give an account to God for every word spoken, every thought we had, and every deed we did. Kinda a scary thought huh? But more then that, it should be a motivating thought–A challenge to take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ and check every word before it leaves our tongue and question every action we do.