April 2, 2007 — -- As high school and college cheerleaders face increased pressure to perform gravity-defying leaps and flips, they are becoming vulnerable to permanent injury -- even death.

Cheerleading showed 1.05 injuries per 1,000 athletic exposures, nearly half the average sports rate of 2.03 per 1,000 AE and lower than eight other girls’ sports.

Jennifer King had always been a dancer. What she didn’t realize, until that day she stood in the long line outside an airport hotel, is that she was a cheerleader, too. She had danced growing up, and ...

It's a shout many sports fans easily would associate with cheerleaders. But they might not think of the hours of practice, risk of injury, lack of recognition and potential mental health impacts that ...

Cheerleading has developed into a very disciplined and competitive sport. It incorporates much of the athletic demands of gymnastics but without mats. There has been a significant rise in injuries ...

Cheerleading isn’t as aggressive as high-impact sports like football or hockey, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous. According to a report published in the journal Pediatrics by the American ...

High school cheer teams nationwide are reporting fewer lower-body injuries after adopting performance-supportive footwear. Athletic training records and budgets now show a trend toward cheer-specific ...

CHICAGO (AP) -- Cheerleading isn't just jumping and waving pompoms — it has become as athletic and potentially as dangerous as a sport and should be designated one to improve safety, the nation's ...

Strapped to a backboard, 14-year-old Chelsea Clocker watched the ceiling lights of the gymnasium blur by as the medics rolled her out to an awaiting ambulance. A stunt she and other members of the ...

HOUSTON — Sophia Neylon, 21, has been in competitive cheer and acrobatics since the first grade and had been relatively injury-free until a tumbling run at the end of high school. “I landed a little ...