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New York, 1:19 AM
Sun Nov 8
20 posts in the last 24 hours
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09/17/09
09/17/09
We had tiny, one-inch fold-out mats to put on the cement floor of our high school lobby--the only place outside of the gym (which we were not allowed to use) that had a high enough ceiling for us to stunt. The mats didn't do much to protect the girls who flew but at least we had a heavy emphasis on safely catching. Only once or twice during my four years did a girl hit the floor. One resulted in a broken elbow. We were lucky.
09/17/09
65% of this class of injury accounted for by a single pursuit out of the dozens of available HS and college sports is astounding.
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No thanks, I'll pass.
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Ballet, I would argue, is also not a "sport" - no competition, no one wins. That doesn't make it any less athletic or entertaining, or likely to cause injury. Same with pole dancing, athletic, but not a sport. Causing injury is not what makes something a sport, which is why driving a car to work is also not a sport, despite the dangerous nature of that activity.
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@LookyLoo: I've never known a serious squad not to put on warm-ups if necessary. See, e.g., Michigan/Ohio State, the Saturday after Thanksgiving, when it is usually fucking cold in both those locales. (You can't see the whole picture, but her base is in warm-ups too.)
09/17/09
But here's the thing: various forms of dance have regulating bodies that have training standards for teachers, standards for each student level, exams, and so on. There are checks and balances to make sure kids that are too young to perform certain things are not performing those things. Cheerleading needs those same checks and balances and standards - at least in terms of safety training. It doesn't matter if it's a sport or an athletic art, when it comes to those who train, there has to be some standards to ensure safety.
09/17/09
In high school, at least in my hometown in southwest Washington, even though cheerleading isn't a "sport" insofar as you can't go to state, the WA Interscholastic Activities Association, which governs sports, also dictates what stunts you can and can't do. I think that's true of most states, and as I said down thread, some states have totally grounded HS cheerleading squads (no stunting at all). If you compete in at the high school level at UCA, again, there are rules - any inverted flyer has to be in contact with a base at all times (no back tuck basket tosses), spotters, no 2 1/2 level stunts, etc.
I don't know enough about "club" cheerleading, but I do know the rules are substantially relaxed for younger age groups who compete as all stars. But if you're representing your high school and you're doing dangerous and illegal stunts, it's not because there aren't rules, it's because your coach/team/school isn't following them.
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We also had no strength training, no other athletic workouts other than practice and gymnastics class once a week - which included only tumbling and no conditioning. There needed to be a recognition that we needed conditioning and strength to do what we did.
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If my viewing of 'Stick-It' on USA the other day has taught me anything it's because the judges are old foogies and The Dude and a Hillary Swank lookalike need to show them the light.
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Sparky: Because! In cheerleading we throw people into the air. And fat people don't go as high.
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