Cheerleading Injuries

Cheerleading is a sport in which many parents involve their children from an early age. The sport has evolved over the years from merely cheering to acrobatic tricks that can lead to catastrophic injuries. While many don’t consider cheerleading to be a sport, the demand it puts on the body of each cheerleader is equal to or greater than the demands put on the bodies of other athletes.

A recent study found that catastrophic injuries in high school-aged female athletes were caused by cheerleading 65.1% of the time. When one considers the number of other sports in which girls participate in high school and that they only account for 34.9% of all catastrophic injuries combined, that makes cheerleading extremely dangerous. This number increases is slightly higher among college-aged cheerleaders.

The top reason for the number of catastrophic injuries in cheerleading is that it incorporates a large number of gymnastic stunts. Tossing girls up into the air and catching them, while not necessarily gymnastic, does require everyone to be on the same page and for things to go perfectly. Sadly, this is not always the case.

Cheerleaders are also injured because some are unable to give the sport up. Once they are injured, they frequently continue to participate, aggravating the injury and making everything worse. In addition, the group has a tendency to go back to cheering before fully healed, increasing the chances of re-injuring themselves or further damaging what hasn’t completely healed.

Contact a Jacksonville Personal Injury Lawyer

If you have been injured in a cheerleading accident due to someone else’s negligence, contact a Jacksonville personal injury attorney of the Law Offices of Donald Guthrie at 904-296-1088.