In recent news, there has been a scrutinous lens pointed at cheerleading, for the level of danger that is involved in the activity. Statistics like, more injuries than all other sports combined, have been tossed around and questions as to whether or not it’s too much are consistently brought up. I agree that there are too many injuries and that something should be done to manage the situation more successfully, but what?

To find a solution, the problem needs to be examined. The primary issue, in my opinion, is lack of training and lack of training facilities. Most high school cheerleading teams don’t have coaches, they have sponsors. The difference is not in the title, but in the qualifications. Often times there isn’t a budget for an experienced coach, so schools will ask for a volunteer or assign a first year teacher to the task. Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m not blaming the sponsors (or saying this is the case at every school). In my experience, they do the best they can and truly care about the team. The fact is however, caring is not a substitute for training. The problem begins when young athletes want to try stunts or gymnastic tricks they are not prepared to attempt and there is no one to teach them or to make them work in a progression. With proper instruction and practice students could build fundamental skills and move forward in an appropriate fashion.

The next issue that is a major contributor to high injury rates, is a lack of suitable practice space. Definitely in high school, but even in college, there is simply no place for the cheerleading team to practice. Cheerleaders inevitably get stuck in a corner of the gym, outside or in an empty hallway. In some cases, the team will have some old discarded folding mat, but very rarely will you find mats that would actually prevent or lessen injuries in a fall. Almost never, mats that are specifically for the use of the cheerleaders.

Since the issue could obviously be alleviated with some additional funding, I think the first step is to increase the budgets for these young athletes. Adding money to a cheerleading sponsor’s budget would allow them to better prepare their young athletes for the ever increasing demands being placed on them. Dollars are scarce, and I would never suggest taking money from any academic effort, but some more even distribution of athletic funds would certainly be a step in the right direction.

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