High jumps,
high stakes
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Cheerleaders
don’t get injured as often as other high school athletes. A 2016 study ranked it 18th out of 22 sports for how often injuries occurred.
Football
Girls’ soccer
Boys’ ice hockey
Boys’ wrestling
Boys’ lacrosse
Girls’ basketball
Girls’ gymnastics
Girls’ field hockey
Boys’ soccer
Boys’ basketball
Girls’ lacrosse
Girls’ softball
Girls’ volleyball
Girls’ track and field
Boys’ baseball
Girls’ cross country
Boys’ volleyball
CheerleadingBoys’ cross country
Boys’ track and field
Girls’ swimming and diving
Boys’ swimming and diving
Sport
Injuries per 1,000 athletic exposures (practices, performances, competitions)
4.01
2.46
2.34
2.32
2.1
1.91
1.81
1.7
1.69
1.54
1.4
1.23
1.1
0.97
0.96
0.94
0.73
0.71
0.7
0.68
0.32
0.22
Source: Cheerleading Injuries in United States High Schools, Pediatrics, January 2016
they do get injured, it can be bad. Studies have found cheerleading trailing only football in catastrophic injuries among high schoolers.
Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine, Catastrophic injuries among young athletes, January 2010
61
Cheerleading
Catastrophic injuries in selected high school sports, 1982-83 to 2007-08
Track
75
144
58
Wrestling
But when
Football
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Cheerleading
is linked to nearly two thirds of catastrophic injuries among high school athletes.
Everything else
35%
Catastrophic injuries in high school girls sports, 2009-2010 to 2013-2014
65%