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Doctors to Determine Whether Cheerleading is a Sport
Author: Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC
Date: June 26, 2013
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For years, the debate over whether cheerleading is considered a true sport has raged in high schools, universities, and athletic associations. As the number of injuries affecting cheerleaders continues to rise, doctors with the American Medical Association are set to determine whether cheerleading is a sport with the same parameters as recognized sports.
Representatives of several states, including Massachusetts and Illinois, have called on the AMA to officially recognize cheerleading as a sport, noting that its competitive nature and the risk of serious injury qualifies it to fall within the same ranks as other activities, such as gymnastics, football, and basketball. Therefore, cheerleading enthusiasts argue that it should receive the same protections under sports law as other sports, including the sufficient training of coaches to minimize injury risks for cheerleaders, according to Medical Daily.
National Public Radio recently reported the findings of a 2011 report from the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, which found that “high school and college cheerleaders account for approximately two-thirds of the catastrophic injuries to female athletes.” Cheerleaders complete a number of complex moves that involve acrobatic tumbles, high-flying tosses, and building pyramids as high as 15 feet. When injuries do occur as a result of these risky moves, the most common ones involve damage to concussions, spinal cord issues, broken bones, and in rare cases, death.
Proponents argue that by giving cheerleading a legitimate sports title, more attention would be placed on the health risks of the activity and allow for more funding to mitigate and treat potential injuries. More specifically, the American Academy of Pediatrics noted that validating cheerleading “will afford it the same benefits as other sports, such as availability of athletic trainers, improved access to medical care, limits on practice time, better facilities, certified/qualified coaches, and inclusion in injury surveillance data.”
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