Cheerleading injuries can categorized into two basic types. These types are what we call purely accidental and preventable . Obviously, purely accidental injuries are the types that ,no matter what, they could not be stopped from happening. On the other hand, preventable injuries are the ones in which should have been foreseen and prevented. How do you tell the difference?

First of all, purely accidental injuries are the ones that are the most difficult to deal with. These types of injuries will happen when you least expect them to. Purely accidental injuries could be as simple as somebody doing a jump and then landing on their ankle sideways. Unfortunately, there is not much you can do to prevent this kind of injury as it was a pure accident that they landed that way. Another common accidental injury can be ACL tears in the knee. Sometimes a cheerleader will go to do a round-off for a tumbling pass and have their knee at a slightly wrong angle. Again, there is not much you could have done to prevent this type of injury.

Now, preventable injuries are the ones in which there was a lack of knowledge causing the injury. An example of this would be having a flyer (top person) dropped onto the ground. A flyer (top person) should never be allowed to hit the ground in any circumstance. Most preventable injuries are the result of having the wrong spotters (the people who insure the safety of the participant) or the lack of spotters. Preventable injuries are the direct result of lack of knowledge. These types of injuries should be unacceptable in any program.

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Paul Hopkins has been cheerleading for over seven years. During this time he has been a part of teams at the high school, college, and professional levels. On top of that he has taught numerous clinics and privates to cheerleaders of all ages; including Pro team members. Some of his awards include a 24th place at partner stunt nationals. Paul also is a Certified Fitness Trainer through the I.S.S.A. (International Sports Sciences Association).