Cheerleading Accidents

Cheerleading is now considered one of the most dangerous youth sports. A recent study by the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research found that cheerleading is the leading cause for direct injury and disability in young female athletes, accounting for more than 65% of severe injuries in high school female athletes and more than 70% of severe injuries in college female athletes.

To make the point, from 1982 through 2008, female high school cheerleaders sustained seventy-three (73) injuries. Two (2) were fatal and forty-six (46) were serious. Over the same period, female college cheerleaders sustained thirty-one (31) injuries. One (1) was fatal and nineteen (19) were serious.

One reason for the sharp increase in cheerleading injuires is the nature of the sport, and the dramatic increase in "flyers" who are thrown into the air to perform tricks, stunts and acrobatics in the air. These "flyers" depend on young people to catch them, cushion them and prevent them from crashing to the ground. Often times, the young people who form the safety net are too small and are poorly trained by coaches and school administrators.

At the present time, cheerleading is a poorly regulated sport that lacks standardized training standards, safety equipment and emergency preparaedness. In turn, high schools and colleges around the State of New York, as well as coaches engaged in the sport, are doing very little to protect the safety of students, many of whom have sustained spine and head injuries on par with accidents.

The trial lawyers at Bottar Law, PLLC, have decades of experience investigating, prosecuting and trying to verdict severe injury cases. If your child was injured while cheerleading, you and your family may be entitled to compensation for lifelong health care, medical expenses, medical bills, loss of income, and pain and suffering.

To discuss your case or concerns with an experienced Central New York cheerleading injury attorney, contact us now at (315) 422-3466, (800) 336-LAWS, or by e-mail at info@bottarleone.com.

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