After watching the video below, I'm bemused as to how any right-thinking woman would want to take up cheer-leading in the first place! It seems far too dangerous an occupation!
Wouldn't they be better off taking up something safe, like free-fall sky-diving or rock-climbing without ropes?
Peter
Actually... I seem to recall reading a report somewhere that there a cheerleader is many times more likely to suffer a major injury than even a similar aged football player.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I still wish I had spent some of my mis-spent youth acting as a spotter for the pom-pom girls... >;)
But, but, you can't impress the boys and bounce around in barely-legal clothes when you're sky-diving!
ReplyDeleteIntimidate the boys maybe, but not impress.
LittleRed1 (who was never, ever a cheerleader)
A year ago this month article regarding girls injuries is at http://www.livescience.com/health/080811-cheerleading-injuries.html
ReplyDeleteSome impressive, if not scary statistics there.
After seeing many performances and a few competitions, there seems to be more enthusiasm than good sense and all too often the absence of safety-conscious adults. Tripping is one thing -- running into solid objects is quite another.
Yup, any girl who wants to be a cheerleader is taking her life in her hands. Combine high-impact tumbling with coaches that typically have far less experience, and are far less safety-concsious than gymnastics coaches that handle a similar level of athleticism and danger do, and you have a recipe for injured and dead young women.
ReplyDeleteNow add status competition and a teenaged sense of invincibility and mix well!
I played trombone in high school and took a baton to the slide once. I talked funny for a week, still have the scar.
ReplyDeleteI have friend who's sister broke her neck, and another friend who's daughter had to have MAJOR knee surgery, resulting in serious scarring and problems to this day... Lab Rat is dead on!
ReplyDelete