I'll Have More Spirit Once I'm Off These Crutches

A few weeks back the Wall Street Journal looked at America’s most dangerous sport… Cheerleading.  Just so you know for cocktail parties and random trivia, cheerleading accounts for 65% of all female catastrophic injuries in high school and college, according to the University of North Carolina’s National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research. The Consumer Product Safety Commission says the number of injuries from cheerleading accidents has more than quadrupled in 25 years. (I’m not sure what  consumer products are involved in cheerleading, but I’ll take their word for it.) Another report put the number of cheerleader emergency room visits in 2007 at 26,786.

We’re going on thirty years since the slow death of pep rally, sis-sis boom ba stuff.  Now its a mix of dancing, tumbling, three-person-high pyramids, double flips and basket tosses.  If you think that its still kids stuff, keep in mind that last January, Wisconsin’s Supreme Court ruled that cheerleading was a contact sport — a decision that prevents injured cheerleaders from suing their schools or teammates. At the point that the courts and lawyers are involved the stakes are very high.  As seen in the five Bring It On films.  (In all honesty the first one is the best with Eliza Dushku, Kirsten Dunst, and Gabrielle Union.)

The Journal goes on to point out that the changes in cheerleading have been the growing popularity of gymnastic moves known as “stunting”, the television competitions, and the college scholarships. The result is a culture where injuries are more tolerated, if not more common.

The squad at Cactus Shadows High School outside Phoenix has won four Arizona state titles. During the Journal’s visit one member was out with a torn knee ligament, another was on crutches and another had just taken off a giant knee brace. Around 6:30 a.m., Jaime Varner took an elbow to the head and fell to the ground. After checking for fractures and signs of a concussion, “I gave her Tylenol and she went back in,” said varsity coach Rika Cuff.

At Xtreme Tumbling, where most of the members are vying for full scholarships, the participants train to impress college scouts at cheer competitions. The gym’s motto, according to Ms. Allen, the coach, is “Motrin and ice, ladies, let’s go.”

Fans of this style say stunt moves like the elevator, thigh stand and basket toss are necessary tools for revving up crowds. Jeff Webb, chief executive of uniform maker Varsity Brands, says this sort of cheerleading requires more focus and dedication than the earthbound type seen at most NFL games, which, he calls “a joke.”

Earthbound cheerleading maybe “a joke”, but it seems like there’s a future in it where hip replacement, knee scopes, and ACL injuries won’t plague you in your 20s.  There are calendars and maybe a modeling career.  With competitive cheerleading it seems like your glory days end in high school or college.  Then you turn around and torture– I mean train kids to do all the crazy stunts because you miss competing.  In short you become Sue Sylvester from Glee.