I still remember an incident involving a Syracuse cheerleader during an SU game many years ago. It was identical to the one that resulted in the restrictions. In that incident the cheerleader suffered a skull fracture. What I remember most is the girls' cries of pain as she was removed from the arena. You are going to have these kinds of injuries in any high risk acrobatic routine. The answer isn't to ban them, but to require safety precautions for the teams that perform them. It's all a matter of training.
I tore a shoulder muscle climbing ladders in an oil refinery. When can I expect them to build the elevator? The NCAA is a business, and like most businesses, is prone to knee jerk reactions. UNLIKE the NCAA, smart management learns to identify, and works to eliminate potential problems in its place of business. School systems are supposed to prepare you for the "big bad world out there", and how to survive in it, not cover you in bubble wrap, and send you out to play. Like the majority of you have said, the NCAA needs to butt out on this one, and do what they do best...sanction discriminatory and offensive team mascots. GO ILLINI!!!
Pretty freakin' simple. But don't go out there telling other people what they can and can't do based on your own sense of what's acceptable or not. It's not your call. I love how any time the NCAA enforces a rule, they're "telling people what to do," as if you could have a collegiate athletic system without some kind of sanctioning body that tells members what to do. The cheerleading teams represent schools that choose to belong to the NCAA, which chooses to follow AACCA safety rules. If they don't like it, they can choose to cheer elsewhere or choose to lobby the NCAA to change the rules.
My daughter has been involved in competition cheerleading for a few years, and you wouldn't believe the athleticism this activity takes. People focus on girls falling from the top of these mounts, but there are other dangers, also. When the girls who are being held up, or thrown up in the air come down, the individuals catching them are at risk. I've seen girls catching one of these flyers get their face smashed by the other girl's head. That happened to my niece, and she began having siezure episodes soon after (which doctors blame on this injury). She is still a big supporter (and coach) of cheerleading squads. It's risk that is associated with many other sports, from football to baseball to hockey. Accidents happen in all activities, but you have to let the individuals who enjoy them keep participating.
The cheerleading teams represent schools that choose to belong to the NCAA, which chooses to follow AACCA safety rules. If they don't like it, they can choose to cheer elsewhere or choose to lobby the NCAA to change the rules. So is it acceptable to change the rules during the peak of their season? Seems unfair to me. I'm sure many of the cheerleaders think they are getting a raw deal.
Any further discussion of whether cheerleading is a sport will be deleted.
With four daughters and five granddaughters having been or are currently involved in the sport of cheerleading or strutting or whatever, it frightens me so bad for their safety that I just go out to the hills and woods and swamps and ride my Yamaha Big Bear 4X4 and wonder why all my family goes bonkers with fear when I ask to take a teenager along for the scenery, fresh air, nature, even wildlife viewing.
rcade, I wasn't bitching about the NCAA or the possibility of their enforcing the new regulations. My response was to the poster who decided that the sport that thousands of young men and women devote themselves to was "not worth the risk." I do have a problem with knee-jerk legislation, and that's what I consider the AACCA's latest move in the wake of the Yamaoka accident. Besides, what's more important to the AACCA, the health of these student-athletes, or their image as it relates to funding? From the article: Jim Lord, AACCA executive director, said the new rules are an attempt to prevent another high-profile accident. Not "to protect the participants," not "to make sure nobody gets hurt," but "to prevent another high-profile accident." I still think it's a knee-jerk copout.
SpoFi censorship? I can dig it... I guess...
Dude, it's not censorship. It's keeping up the high quality of content on the site. Is it censorship because the New York Times decided not the publish your letter to the editor? Not at all. Same principle applies here. You're more than welcome to start your own weblog and debate to your heart's content whether cheerleading is a sport or not.
Dr. John, Chill man, I was joking, just as my comments made in the conversation were jokes that I though would point out the ridiculousness of the conversation. I agree with you totally. ok?... uh.... ok.
I swear attack mode is easy to spark these days.
Sorry. Tough to pick up sarcasm in text. All is well.
Don't worry JohnEvans the same thing has happened to me a couple times. I think TBH is right.
I swear attack mode is easy to spark these days. With the number of Yahoo! chatroom refugees increasing exponentially, whaddaya expect? People love this place, and hate to see it shat upon, which is happening quite a lot over the last few months.
I agree... I'm a relative newbie as well, but I feel like I add more than I take so I get defensive sometimes. But, there is no doubt that the conversation gets a little depressing at times.
The_Black_Hand, Don't believe everything you read. The comment I made was that we wanted to protect the athletes and to minimize the chance of having another high-profile injury. The reason for that was that all it would take is one more cheerleading injury that stopped an NCAA basketball tournament game on national television to have college administrators across the country start banning their cheerleaders from any stunts. This was not a knee-jerk reaction. The discussion about 2 1/2 high pyramids and basket tosses was already on the agenda for our upcoming college rules meeting. In light of that, and the injury, we determined we would go ahead and put the restriction in place for the remainder of the season. Now, about Oregon State. This appears to be much more about something they've been wanting to do for a while than real concern for the athlete's safety. If that were indeed the case, they would be eliminating all of their sports. To be clear, the NCAA has not made any restrictions on cheerleading other than that they follow our safety rules and that coaches are safety certified by August 1, 2006. These athletes are young adults. They do understand the risk involved and they accept it. At the same time, the NCAA's insurance company covers them with catastrophic insurance coverage like all of the other athletes, and there has to be a balance between what is possible and what is allowed. Safety precautions prior to this incident included requiring two spotters for every person above 2-high. Flipping basket tosses were already not allowed on the basketball court as well. Whether those skills will be further restricted as they are right now, or whether additional measures such as requiring two spotters in front and back, remains to be seen. There is a balance going on here that tries to find a reasonably safe performance level with the purpose of the cheerleading program in each environment (basketball, football, competition). I hope that clears up the issue a little bit. Jim Lord Executive Director American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators
