Daily Skiff

Headline: "Cheerleaders fly high despite risks of injury"

vs.

Quote: "We can have an athlete or a cheerleader standing on someone's shoulders but they're not to be tossed in the air," Kull said.

So, the headline is accurate how? Do editors read the articles first?

As a former TCU cheerleader, it's sad that they aren't allowed to follow the rules that other teams follow. There are restrictions already in place and we had no major injuries when I cheered there. I don't know how it's been since then but when you look at how many catastrophic injuries football players have, I think the focus may be misdirected or sexist. Not to say that there aren't male cheerleaders, but no one really focuses on them when these reports come out. So, for comparison's sake, how many males were catastrophically injured over that same 25 year span, and why do the stats have to point out "of female athletes"? Ever heard of Title 9? Equality?

Hi, just to clarify, the statement, "male cheerleaders aren't the ones being tossed in the air or standing on teammate's shoulders" is completely inaccurate. Males are tossed up in the air almost as much as the females at colleges, high schools and competitive cheerleading gyms across the nation. Also, there is actually a 3-layer collegiate pyramid called a 2-1-1 in which 2 males are on the bottom, a third male is standing on their legs or their shoulders, then a girl is being held up by the male that is standing on the shoulders.

I've provided some links below. Please take a few minutes to watch these videos. The first link is an all star routine, watch the first 5 seconds and you will see that they open with a male flying in a basket toss.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYLeuMaEjTY


Here is a high school practicing with a male flyer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B22-btMIcqU


Another high school with females throwing a male:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=et8hxQFZFrQ&feature=related

As a certified cheerleading instructor and employee at a national cheerleading corporation I am also ACCAA certified (instructor safety certification test). I am certain that the act of a male being tossed in the air or being put on someone else's shoulders is completely legal and safe. I would advise to research the topic a little more before printing it in an established and award winning college newspaper and defending it so strongly once a comment is made.

Here are some examples of colleges displaying male flying techniques:

The following link is Navarro College. At 0:30 you will see their basket toss section highlighting male basket tosses. At 0:48 their pyramid section exemplifies multiple pyramids with males-holding males-holding females (as described in the previous comment).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaBzLokxLpQ&feature=related


The following link is Hawaii Pacific University. At 1:10 you will see basket tosses performed by male cheerleaders. At 1:28 you can see the pyramids described in the previous comment,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVGbEI7XXOc

Let me direct to the statistics that I cite in my story.

Here are the numbers.

In high school female direct catastrophic injuries, there were a total of 44 injuries and there was an asterisk that said "Cheerleading does not include two males."

For college female direct catastrophic injuries, there were a total of 19 injuries and an asterisk that said "Cheerleading does not include four males."

Your assumption is that "Males are tossed up in the air almost as much as the females at colleges, high schools and competitive cheerleading gyms across the nation." If this is true, then the numbers do not reflect it or maybe they just aren't getting hurt as much as female cheerleaders or maybe it's under-reported. Because the numbers say 44 female injuries, 2 male injuries for high school and 19 female injuries, 4 male injuries for college. And in the details on the report which I will talk about in a minute, the male cheerleaders weren't hurt by basket tosses or on the shoulders of teammates.

Whatever the case may be, the number of female catastrophic injuries in this study are significantly more than those of male cheerleaders whose injuries are detailed in the report but not included in the overall total for female direct catastrophic injuries. Here's why.

Because the study was split up between males and females. And in the lead I acknowledged that distinction.

Here are the details for those injured male cheerleaders from the study. I am aware that male cheerleaders are cheer members just like females and get injured the same, but the story isn't about male cheerleaders, it's about cheerleading being the leader in direct catastrophic injuries for college and high school female athletes and I acknowledged that.

4. A male college cheerleader was injured in a tumbling accident during a basketball game in December 1983. He fractured and dislocated several cervical vertebrae and was paralyzed. He received his injuries after diving over a mini-trampoline and several cheerleaders. The stunt is called a dive into a forward roll. He has made progress and can now walk unaided for several blocks and is able to feed himself.

7. A male college cheerleader was paralyzed after a fall in practice. He was attempting a front flip from a mini-trampoline. He dislocated several cervical vertebrae and is now quadriplegic.

6.On March 1, 1990 a 21-year-old male college cheerleader was injured at practice. In attempting to do a back flip he hit his head against a wall. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance. He has since recovered and the injuries were not serious.

47.A male 18 year-old high school cheerleader landed on his neck after performing a standing back tuck on September 12, 2005. It was during a practice session. The injury was a fractured cervical vertebra and he is recovering. He was 6' 2" tall and weighed 215 pounds.

51.In 2002 a 16 year-old male high school cheerleader was injured during a practice session. He fractured a cervical vertebra and is quadriplegic.

From the data I looked at, I saw no basket tosses with male cheerleaders standing on the shoulders. Sure I saw backflips and standing back tucks and trampoline maneuvers, but nothing on the shoulders of teammates. More importantly, the rest of the injury reports are injuries suffered by female cheerleaders, which was the subject of my article.

"The 2006-2007 high school participation survey shows 95,177 females. There were also 2,147 male cheerleaders."

I'm honestly sorry if you think I hadn't researched the sport, but I researched the study which was used in the story. Have you seen the study? When my credibility is attacked, I react strongly. I'm aware of my paper's status and I am keen on keeping its reputation.