Cheerleading Safety From AACCA. Solutions to address the risks involved in cheerleading.

As college and high school basketball tournaments are gearing up around the country, I just wanted to put out a reminder about basketball safety rules and the importance of everyone following and helping to enforce these rules. The safety rules are written to help minimize the chance of having a catastrophic injury happen to one [...]

Of course, cheerleading safety should be practiced any time cheerleading is being performed, but March – Cheerleading Safety Month – provides the perfect opportunity to shine the spotlight on cheerleading safety. March often marks the winding down of basketball season and with it most school cheerleading will also come to an end. Soon, tryouts for [...]

The good news is this: with proper training and emphasis on progression, we should be able to reduce the injury rate in cheerleading.

Now that basketball season is in full swing it is time for a reminder about the specific restrictions for basketball court surfaces. These additional restrictions are intended to reduce the risk of a catastrophic injury to a cheerleader. Coaches must be familiar with and follow the current cheerleading safety rules at www.aacca.org. The combination of [...]

The Executive Committee of the AACCA has updated the 2009 – 2010 high school and college cheerleading safety rules to prohibit prone landings from airborne positions. The specific wording of the rules (high school rule D-10 and college rule G-5) is as follows: Airborne drops to a prone position on the performing surface are illegal. [...]

AACCA has published its first ever Sports Injury Study. The purpose of this study is to ascertain the risk of participation in cheerleading and address previous data misinterpretations and sensationalism in recent media reports. A number of recent articles falsely claim that cheerleading is the most dangerous athletic activity, more dangerous than football and hockey. [...]

Thanks to some very attentive coaches, we realize there were two rules left off of the 2009-2010 AACCA College Safety Rules that should have been included. The first is a new rule put in place last year regarding handspring load-ins to partner stunts. This skill now requires a spotter if the top person is released [...]

New requirements call for increased safety measures for all event organizers. Updated Procedure for a team Emergency Plan also released. Memphis, Tenn. (July, 2009) – As part of an ongoing effort to address safety issues in cheerleading, the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators (AACCA) has announced its new safety standards for cheerleading competitions. [...]

The National Federation of State High Schools Association just released results of a survey that shows nearly 400,000 high school student participate in cheerleading. The survey was the first comprehensive study of high school cheerleading participation. According to the study, released May 20, the current participation of freshman, junior varsity and varsity cheerleading in high [...]