Is Cheerleading Safe? Let’s Tumble Through the Facts

Is Cheerleading Safe Article.
When you think of cheerleading, what comes to mind? High-flying stunts, dazzling pyramids, or maybe a megaphone and some pom-poms? Whatever the image, one question often lurks in the background: Is cheerleading safe? It’s a fair ask—those flips and tosses look risky, and every so often, a viral video of a stunt gone wrong fuels the debate. As someone who’s rooting for cheerleading to get a fair shake, I dove into the numbers to see how it stacks up against other sports. Spoiler alert: cheerleading’s dangers are overhyped. Compared to the tackles of football, the headers of soccer, or the flips of gymnastics, cheerleading is safer than you might think—especially when you consider how many kids are out there cheering without a scratch.

Injuries: Not the Top of the Pyramid

Let’s start with the raw stats. Cheerleading does see injuries—falls from stunts, awkward landings in tumbling—but it’s not the injury magnet some assume. In the 2022-23 high school sports season, cheerleading ranked 17th out of 20 sports for injury rates, clocking in at 0.57 injuries per 1,000 athlete-exposures (that’s one athlete in one practice or game). Compare that to girls’ gymnastics (8.5), soccer (5.3), basketball (4.4), or even softball (3.5), and cheerleading looks tame. At the college level, its rate jumps to 2.4, but it’s still nowhere near football’s 8.0+ or women’s soccer’s jaw-dropping 16.0 in some studies.

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Emergency room visits back this up. In 2023, cheerleading sent 18,908 girls aged 12-18 to the ER—sounds like a lot until you see basketball’s 40,217, soccer’s 32,390, or volleyball’s 26,833. Better yet, over 98% of those cheerleading visits ended with kids treated and released, meaning most injuries are minor—think sprains, not surgeries. Sure, cheerleading has its risks, but it’s not leading the pack in the injury game.

Concussions: Low Risk, High Awareness

Concussions are the buzzword in sports safety, and cheerleading isn’t immune. Studies peg its concussion rate at 4-6% of injuries, though some say it’s as high as 31% when stunts go sideways. Still, the numbers are kind: high school cheerleading ties baseball for the lowest concussion rate at 0.06 per 1,000 athlete-exposures. Girls’ soccer? 0.36. Basketball? 0.21. Football? A whopping 0.60. Cheerleading’s head injuries mostly happen in practice—up to 90% tied to stunts—because that’s where new moves get tested. In contrast, sports like football and soccer see more brain-rattling hits during games.

Here’s the kicker: cheerleading’s concussion rate isn’t soaring. Older data showed a 26% annual jump from 1998-2008, but from 2010-2019, it stabilized as participation grew and reporting got sharper. Awareness is up—think CDC’s Heads Up program—but the sport itself isn’t getting riskier.

The Big Stuff: Catastrophic Injuries

Cheerleading’s past has some dark spots. From 1982-2009, it accounted for 65% of catastrophic injuries (think skull fractures or spinal damage) among female high school athletes. Scary, right? But here’s the twist: those numbers have plummeted. By 2019-2020, the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research reported zero catastrophic injuries in cheerleading. Over the prior five years? Just three. Compare that to football’s 358 in a decade, or even girls’ soccer and track holding steady with a handful each. Rule changes—like banning double-twist dismounts—and better coach training have turned the tide. Cheerleading’s not the daredevil it once was.

The Participation Edge

Now, let’s zoom out. Over 400,000 high schoolers cheer each year in the U.S., with 123,000+ in competitive squads. That’s more than gymnastics (20,000) or field hockey (60,000), and close to volleyball (450,000). With so many cheerleaders, you’d expect a flood of injuries if it were truly dangerous—but the rates stay low. Take catastrophic injuries: cheerleading’s 2.68 per 100,000 participants is peanuts next to, say, pedestrian risks in New York (17.9 per 100,000). From 2010-2019, cheerleading racked up 350,000 ER visits, but spread across millions of participants, that’s a drop in the bucket. Lots of kids cheer; few get hurt.

Safety’s On the Rise

Here’s the cherry on top: cheerleading’s getting safer. Total injuries dropped 15% from 2010-2019, even as concussion reports rose 44%—not because it’s riskier, but because we’re better at spotting them. Rules now limit high-risk stunts, coaches need certifications (thanks, NCAA and state associations), and training programs are cutting edge. Football’s still wrestling with its injury toll, but cheerleading’s making strides.

So, Is Cheerleading Safe?

Yes—emphatically, yes. It’s not risk-free; no sport is. A mistimed toss or a wobbly pyramid can lead to a fall, and concussions happen. But stack it up against football’s bone-crunching tackles, soccer’s header-heavy play, or gymnastics’ gravity-defying leaps, and cheerleading holds its own. Its injury rates are lower, its concussions less frequent, and its catastrophic risks nearly extinct—all while hundreds of thousands of kids cheer every year. The sport’s evolved from sideline chants to a regulated powerhouse, and the safety measures prove it.

Cheerleading’s risks don’t outweigh its rewards. It builds strength, teamwork, and confidence, all with a safety profile that’s better than the headlines suggest. So next time someone asks if cheerleading is safe, give ‘em a cheer: it’s not just safe enough—it’s something to root for.

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