High School Aftermath Of Serious Cheer Injury

[Alexis Dayton]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/10/04/cnnheroes.sports.injuries/index.html?&hpt=hp_c2

 

[cheerleader1997]

This is so sad and such ashame. If they were doing this on mats the outcome could be completely different. Also, it said that her and two other girls were trying the stunt. What about a third girl or at least someone spotting? But the comments people wrote about it are horrible and disrespectful.

 

[kem1129]

seriously the comments on that are awful, i dealt with a really severe concussion a couple of years ago and the aftermath of it was terrible, so many visits to the doctor and the er. the hospital bills were crazyy not to mention all of the recovery it took. injuries like that really should be taken more seriously like its honestly not a joke when someone hits their head like that whether people think cheer is a sport or not

 

[CheerBabe8925]

In New Hampshire all skills must be done on a mat. Its too bad these girls werent on mats !

 

[CheerBabe8925]

and from the article it sounds like their coach asked them to do a stunt that they didnt know how to do without properly being trained how to do it first

 

[SharkDad]

I posted this article to my twitter and facebook last week when it came out as well. I'm glad you posted it @Alexis Dayton

You should ignore comments from any public news article, they are always that way.

Unfortunately, all aspects of cheer that are not accomplished on proper surfaces with coaches who are not certified to teach the levels they are asking their kids to accomplish are unsafe. That applies to the majority of Rec, Middle School, and High School. It is too bad because it brings down the reputation of a number of good coaches out there at these levels who strive to do things correctly and be safe.

Until a governing body comes along that is truly interested in safety of the athletes, this will probably not change. Be safe, and please don't "play around" doing stunts and tumbling in places where you shouldn't.

 

[King]

PS - not doing this on mats but doing this on spring floors greatly reduce the risk of injury. In no way shape or form is mats on a hard floor safe.

 

[King]

Ok, so I am debating doing a whole article that would be very understandable to the cheer world about why Hard floor, basketball floor, and spring floor are completely different. I can use simple math and explain it all and then use analogies when done. Would this be interesting?

 

[SharkDad]

Not just interesting, it would be necessary. NCSF has already done studies with medical and sports trainer professionals on this.

It's been stated for a while that hard floor surfaces are not suitable for injury prevention (I think the study was specific to concussions, but it still works for injury prevention in general). Hard surface includes concrete, track, grass, and non-spring floor mat.

I know this as a parent from reading. I find it hard to believe that the Cheer "industry" (I say it that way because they can't ignore safety and be respected as a sport) leadership doesn't know it as well.

 

[King]

Not just interesting, it would be necessary. NCSF has already done studies with medical and sports trainer professionals on this.

It's been stated for a while that hard floor surfaces are not suitable for injury prevention (I think the study was specific to concussions, but it still works for injury prevention in general). Hard surface includes concrete, track, grass, and non-spring floor mat.

I know this as a parent from reading. I find it hard to believe that the Cheer "industry" (I say it that way because they can't ignore safety and be respected as a sport) leadership doesn't know it as well.

It's about how accessible the information is. If the information isn't easy to understand and digestible to the people that matter (in this case those in cheerleading) it does not matter.

Most people writing articles thing the information is so important they believe the delivery method doesn't matter as long as it doesn't look half done. For my Steve Jobs thought of the week it is how accessible and EASY you make it for those that need to know to read, digest, and make decisions on.

 

[MyDaughterCheers]

Ok, so I am debating doing a whole article that would be very understandable to the cheer world about why Hard floor, basketball floor, and spring floor are completely different. I can use simple math and explain it all and then use analogies when done. Would this be interesting?

Please do. Thank you.

 

[SharkDad]

It's about how accessible the information is. If the information isn't easy to understand and digestible to the people that matter (in this case those in cheerleading) it does not matter.

Most people writing articles thing the information is so important they believe the delivery method doesn't matter as long as it doesn't look half done. For my Steve Jobs thought of the week it is how accessible and EASY you make it for those that need to know to read, digest, and make decisions on.

fair enough. Probably an article from a coaches'/athletes perspective and an article from a parents' perspective would each be helpful

 

[Goosepatrick]

I think it would be interesting. In our state it's HIGHLY discouraged to do both high school and all-star cheer, so kids have to choose. As a parent of an all-star athlete for years, the safety is a concern. But if the high schools limit everything to a spring floor, then they go back to old school cheer and all-stars take over because schools can't drag out the spring floor (that they can't afford) at each assembly. So is the purpose to drive kids back to all-star? or find a way to make high school safer?

 

[SharkDad]

For my take the purpose would be to make college, high school, middle school, and rec safer. By requiring any team that particpates in competitive cheer in any format to use a spring floor, teams may initially say they can't, but there are 100s of thousands of cheerleaders out there who will want to compete. Clearly the demand will not go away. Eventually teams or schools will raise money and get the floors and our athletes will be in a safer place.

We should not be settling for unsafe circumstances.

 

[SarahS]

PS - not doing this on mats but doing this on spring floors greatly reduce the risk of injury. In no way shape or form is mats on a hard floor safe.

Just wondering about this comment. So, to clarify, you're saying that no cheerleading skills should be done on mats on a hard floor, because there is no safe way to perform cheerleading skills without a spring floor? Would you exempt certain skills? For instance, would it be safe to do thigh stands? What about forward rolls and cartwheels? What about more difficult skills, if they are properly taught in progression with proper spotting? I ask because, if spring floors became a requirement for performing all levels of cheerleading skills, that would effectively eliminate all school and recreation cheerleading programs. I'm a high school and rec cheer coach, and I understand the risks involved with teaching skills on mats on a hard floor. That's why I take a *loooooooong* time to teach proper technique and spotting skills. Nothing but the bottoms of my flyers' feet are allowed to touch the mat in a fall - nothing (and even then, flyers must be assisted to landing with their feet on the mat, always). Anything else could have disastrous consequences, so therefore the kids learn early and often that they *must* protect the flyers, and the flyers learn that they *must* fall in the most safe way possible. It probably means that we are not able to learn as many advanced skills as we might be able to if we were able to be a little more "fast and loose" with trying new things, but I'd choose safety any day over being more cutting edge.

I guess I'm just saying that... while I respect your opinion and experience, I think it would be a sad day, indeed, if all cheerleading were limited to being performed on a spring floor, because so many people would be denied the experience of cheerleading, and, if coaches are properly trained, many cheerleading skills *can* be performed safely on a mat on hard floors.

(Besides that, sometimes spring floors are sometimes seen as a safety net in a way that they probably shouldn't. At a local all-star gym, some of my rec kids went to open gym and were told to try back walkovers without a spot.... and these kids had no clue how to do a back bend. When they told that to the coach, she said, "Oh, it doesn't matter - it's a spring floor, you won't get hurt if you fall on your head." Um, no. Just.... no. I'm not sure if that is the standard in all-star cheer, so I may look stupid for saying this, but, uh, no. Please spot the kids.)