is Cheer the most dangerous sport?

You would think so judging from a number of headlines in the news late June.

Those articles came out of this study:

… The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research based at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has released its 26th annual all sports report.

In addition to collecting data on catastrophic injuries in all high school and college sports, the report also contains cheerleading injury data. The latest figures are from the 2007-2008 academic year.

The report defines catastrophic injuries as any severe injury incurred during participation in a school or college sponsored sport, and includes three categories: fatal; non-fatal (resulting in permanent severe functional disability); and serious (no permanent functional disability but severe injury).

…

The report’s conclusions for the 26-year period from the fall of 1982 through the spring of 2008 include:

— There were 1,116 direct catastrophic injuries in high school (905) and college sports (211). High school sports were associated with 152 fatalities, 379 non-fatal and 374 serious injuries. College sports accounted for 22 fatalities, 63 non-fatal and 126 serious injuries.

— Cheerleading accounted for 65.2 percent of high school and 70.5 percent of college catastrophic injuries among all female sports.

The report’s author and center director, Frederick O. Mueller, Ph.D., professor of exercise and sports science in UNC’s College of Arts and Sciences, noted that the number of cheerleading injuries fell slightly in 2007-08 year. …

read more – Medical News Today – Catastrophic Sports Injury Report Released

Is Cheer a dangerous sport?

Absolutely.

But I dispute the findings on at least one important point. They’re combining statistics from competitive Cheer with often poorly trained pompom wavers, also called Cheerleaders.

Don’t tell me the Cheer team at my gym are dangerous. They’re not.

The most interesting article I saw on Cheer injury was a personal story posted by NOELLE BUHIDAR.

She suffered a bad ACL tear at the 2004 World Spirit Federation Nationals in Tulsa, Okla. It was a career ending injury.

Is she bitter? Not at all …

read Noelle’s story – Cheerleading’s thrills make risks worth taking