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TAYLORSVILLE -- Forget basketball and football; it's what's happening on the sidelines that has doctors concerned.
A recent study shows cheerleading causes more serious injuries than any other sport among female high school and college athletes. Cheerleading injuries have increased over the years mainly because the sport involves gymnastic-like stunts and tumbling.
The Taylorsville High School cheerleaders know if something goes wrong during a stunt someone could get hurt.
Varsity cheerleader Crystal Murdock knows firsthand; she fractured her ankle during a stunt.
"(I) came out of a stunt wrong, landed on someone's ankle. It kind of rolled and fractured," said Murdock.
Cheerleading is more than just standing on the sidelines, rooting on the school's team. "They are true athletes, said Taylorsville High cheerleading coach Chalise Farr. Complex stunts and tumbling passes are a big part of the sport.
Which is why, in the recent study by the University of North Carolina, researchers found cheerleading is cause for more than half of all serious injuries to high school female athletes.
The sports injury report found during the 2007-2008 school year, there were three catastrophic injuries from cheerleading. One was so severe that a flyer-- the girl at the top of the stunt-- hit the floor head first and couldn't walk for three months.
Cheerleading injuries aren't always that severe. Farr says her team mainly deals with chronic joint injuries. "Most of my young ladies are persistent enough that they don't usually let them properly heal," says Farr.
Athletic trainer Michael Everett works with athletes at The Orthopedic Specialty Hospital (TOSH) in Murray. He says many injuries in cheerleading could be prevented by athletes becoming more fit and doing strength training.
"Most of what cheerleading is is leg power, then getting up to shoulder power and strength. Are you ever going to prevent a neck injury from a fall? No. No amount of strength is going to do that," says Everett.
Safety precautions continue to improve in cheerleading. Many schools are required to attend safety clinics and certain tumbling moves, like standing back tucks, are no longer allowed in some cheerleading competition divisions.
E-mail:aforester@ksl.com
