Is It The Most Dangerous Sport?

[Saima Azad]

Well honestly do we know how many people that get hurt in this sport each year?....No
But i can say that there is A LOT! so im going with, Yes this is the most dangerous sport

 

[kykycheermom]

Statistically, yes. Cheerleading is the most dangerous sport. The amount of cases seen in ERs and by private doctors/pediatricians (in particular) has more than tripled in the past 12 years. Cheer injuries alone make up approximately 25%-60% (depending on which statistics you read) of all pediatric injuries, and up to 73% of all female athlete injuries. There has been studies done on the amount of force with which an average girl falls from a typical basket toss. It's about 1500 lbs per square in. A professional linebacker in the NFL averages about 1200 lbs/sq in. in an average hit. Now, there has not been any accurate/reliable studies on the percentages from which these injuries are occuring-rec/high school cheer or all-star. From the reports of the more catastrophic injuries, the majority of have been rec/high-school cheer where there is a lack of safety equipment, proper safety training, etc. There are more minor injuries (strains, sprains, breaks, etc.) from all-star from my own observations. This could be attributed to the amount of practice time or competition time put in by all-star competitors vs. that of hs or rec. There's many different ways to look at it, many debates as to why this is, and many ways to solve the issues. Medical statistics stand alone, the rest is up to those of us involved in the sport. We can make it safer by demanding proper training, greater safety regulations, and eventually, one governing body to set and enforce said regulations.

sorry. i'll step away from the soap box now. I did a lot of research on this. My daughter participates in another, seemingly more dangerous sport, so I did my own comparison and analysis of the two, and these are my findings. Also, I have been an EMT for about 12 years, so I tend to watch particular medical trends (cuz I'm a geek like that.)