The topic of sports injuries has been escalating over the last number of years, specifically due to the long term major head injury problems that football players experience. It is odd that a focus was never placed on sports injuries in the past, when we had lower technology sports protection gear. Cheerleading doesn’t have protective sports equipment, so when there is an injury, it can be pretty severe.
1982-1983 introduced a study by the NCCSIR (The National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research), covering both collegiate and high school sports injuries. Strangely, cheerleading was not included in that study, until there were two severe head injuries suffered by cheerleaders that just so happened in the same year as the study.
Continue reading “When Sports Cheerleading Goes Wrong”
American was founded by people that considered themselves individual thinkers. It is therefore not surprising that this culture continued as we developed as a nation. The U.S. takes great pride in establishing unique traditions that are completely alien to other countries. Our attitude towards our sports games is often a lot more obsessive than the rest of the world and this includes the concept of cheerleading. But cheerleaders and sports fans are not the only things that differentiate Americans from other countries, there are many things that we do that, frankly, the rest of the world considers bizarre.
As Americans, we don’t think twice about cheerleading. This is part of our culture and we are introduced to the tradition at a very young age in school. In the U.S., a certain stigma has developed on the topic of cheerleaders, as they fight the generalized concept of ‘dumb blondes’ that usually date the jocks. The idea of ‘cheerleading’ is not one that is shared or even a consideration in other countries. Europeans are completely alienated on the topic and, it is often a topic of both amusement and irritation.
Any fan will tell you that there are many nuances involved in a college basketball game. Beyond the game itself, are the players (and the favorites), the build-up on the electronic scoreboard, and of course the continued excitement generated by the cheerleaders and dancers. The latter can take a game that could be ho-hum, and pull it up to a reveled area of frenzy. While fans are focused on the people, there is a subliminal view of the uniforms and outfits. These can make or break a cheerleading team, and therefore there is a lot of competition when it comes to design, look and color. Some of the college basketball cheerleading uniforms are winners and some are rather questionable.