The Cheer News

Fayetteville NC–Cheer Ltd. Inc. has announced that Cheer Coach and Advisor magazine (CC&A) will join Cheer Ltd. in sponsoring both The Pinnacle Awards for Coaching Excellence and The 30 Under 30 Award for Up and Coming Coaches beginning with the 2009 awards program.

“Cheer Coach and Advisor is a perfect match for this program of cheer coach recognition,” says Gwen Holtsclaw, president of Cheer Ltd. “Under the leadership of editor Valerie Ninemire, CC & A has become the definitive magazine written specifically for cheer coaches. We could not be happier to have Cheer Coach and Advisor magazine working with us on this prestigious award program.”

Cheer Coach and Advisor magazine is published by VAN Publishing Inc. and has been a longtime supporter of Cheer Ltd.’s award-winning national cheer conference CheerCon.

“It is such an honor for Cheer Coach and Advisor to partner with Cheer Ltd. to sponsor such prestigious awards within the coaching community. Cheer Ltd. is a pinnacle within the spirit industry and continues to be an inspirational force taking cheer to new heights. We look forward to honoring these exceptional coaches and highlighting them among the pages of our magazine to allow all coaches the opportunity to build exceptional cheer programs,” says Heather Portnoy, publisher ofCheer Coach and Advisor magazine.

Look forward to hearing much more about these inspirational coaches as well as the 2009 awards program in upcoming magazine issues. You can nominate an outstanding coach on the Cheer LTD Web site.

The National Council for Spirit Safety and Education newsletter has a write up on competition sportsmanship. This is not about the cheerleaders as much as it is about the parents and spectators. I have myself have seen behavior similar the what the writer describes. I hope everyone who reads this takes it to heart.

As we begin another competition season, let’s take a few minutes to remind our cheerleaders and parents about their competition sportsmanship behaviors. Cheerleading is an activity that originally began as a support group and promoted good sportsmanship. At a recent competition I attended, the audience was asked to remain seated when squads were performing, and competition staff were standing at the back of the aisles to keep people from entering while performances were ongoing. Parents refused to stop; adults stood in the aisles talking on cell phones; adults moved in and out oblivious to the fact they were blocking the audience’s views of the performing groups. One parent, when asked to stay back, angrily refused to stop, stomped her way down ten rows of seats, sidled in to the middle of the row and began to complain to her seatmates, gesturing back to the competition staff. Another adult kicked at a cheerleader sitting on the floor of the lobby and directed an expletive at the cheerleader when she did not move out of the way quickly enough.

What has happened to common sense and treating others as we would like to be treated? Education is a key point when dealing with parents and cheerleaders alike. Do not assume people will behave as you expect them to. During parent meetings, give clear expectations of what you expect from parents and cheerleaders as it relates to behavior at competitions. Reading and distributing to parents and cheerleaders the event guidelines for dealing with unsportsmanlike conduct is also important. Coaches, teach parents and cheerleaders (and yourself if necessary!) how to win graciously and how to accept second, third, or fourteenth place. Shaking hands and congratulating winners is done in all sports–yet we don’t often see cheerleaders do this.

Let’s all work to bring sportsmanship back to cheerleading–parents, competitors, and coaches.

Technorati Tags: National Council for Spirit Safety and Education, Cheerleading News

It is that time of year again. The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSI) has issued it’s most resent report on sport injuries in High School and Collage. Cheerleading is again, the one sport that is responsible for more injuries than any other to female athletes.

You can see the full report here.

Keloland Television has an online article about the NCCSI report including some of the things that can be done to improve the safety of everyone involved.

Injury prevention is going to come from coaching education, proper training of the athletes, giving them the right environment and the right opportunities.”

As for those opportunities, Fritsch said parents should research cheer programs and choose one with coaches who are safety-certified.

The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators has a website that parents can go to, which offers the top five questions that parents should be asking when their child joins a school or club

Read the full article…

Technorati Tags: NCCIS, AACCA, Cheerleading Safety, Cheerleading News

From the NCSSE newletter:

As the new cheer season begins, two health and safety issues take the news–heat and heart.

Heat issues can be minor like heat cramps or life-threatening as heat stroke. Coaches should know the signs and symptoms of heat-related issues and how to treat them. Humidity, direct exposure to the sun and temperature can all contribute to heat-related illnesses. The combination of these factors make up the heat index you hear weathermen talk about. Proper hydration and reducing sun exposure can help reduce susceptibility to heat-related issues. “There’s no excuse for any number of heat stroke deaths, since they are all preventable with the proper precautions,” said Mueller, the author of the Annual Survey of Football Injuries, a long-running compilation of statistics that tracks major injuries and deaths in 1.8 million football players on middle school, high school, college, sandlot (organized, non-school affiliated) and professional teams (see report at http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-07/uonc-urh073008.php).

Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) in athletes was the subject of the June 27, 2008, U. S. News & World Report article by Steven Reinberg. SCA is the leading cause of death in young athletes, but the worst news is that only one in 10 student-athletes who suffer SCA survives. The article goes on to say that “approximately one case of Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) occurs every three days in organized youth sports”

• Access to external automatic defibrillators (AEDs) can change these statistics. Access to AEDs within three to five minutes can mean the difference between life and death.
• Schools, practice areas, gyms-all need to have access to an AED, a person(s) trained to use the AED, and an emergency plan in place for using the AED.
• Screening exams for heart problems along with a physical before sports participation are recommended. A study in Italy where a screening EKG mandated for student-athletes resulted in a 90% decrease in SCD.

An amazing group of people have formed Parent Heart Watch. Their mission is to promote awareness of SCD, establish credible research initiatives for SCD, and affect public policy change to encourage community action. They assist in getting AEDs placed in public locations and devising a plan for training and maintaining. One of their goals is to provide the resources and training so communities and parents can host group screening events with trained professionals. The Parent Heart Watch is a non-profit, state-by-state network of parents. Check out their website to see if your state has a Parent Heart Watch group and contact them to see if they can assist your team or gym with EKG screenings or procuring an AED.

Technorati Tags: Parent Heart Watch, NCSSE, Cheerleading Safety, Cheerleading News

From the National Council for Spirit Safety and Education newsletter:

The Twenty-Fifth Annual Report on Catastrophic Sports Injury Research reports these statistics and several individual cases dealing with catastrophic cheerleading injuries. These numbers include fatalities, non-fatal injuries with permanent severe functional disabilities, and serious injuries. Many of these are head and neck injuries.

The time for denial and comparing cheerleading to other sports is over. Now is the time to focus on prevention. Safety begins with the coach. Four elements are of utmost importance:

1) the coach must be trained and knowledgeable about cheerleading skills,

2) physicals (including a complete medical history) should be included in pre-participation screening,

3) proper conditioning programs should be provided for cheerleaders,

4) proper training in gymnastics and stunting (including proper spotting techniques) should be provided.

Whether you coach high school, all star or recreation cheerleaders, safety and proper training for all should be your focus.  The full report written by Dr. Fred Mueller and Dr. Robert Cantu can be accessed at http://www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi/AllSport.htm

Read the special section on cheerleading and the individual cases included in the report.

IRVINE, CA, August 08, 2008 - The National Cheer Safety Foundation is now sharing online cheer injury data with Dr. Fred Mueller, Founder and Director of the Catastrophic Sports Injury Research Center in an effort to reveal injury data that will help alert industry leaders to troubling injury trends and be a catalyst for developing additional prevention strategies that will decrease cheer injuries resulting in death or disabilities. After reviewing over 200 cheer injuries, 30 classified as catastrophic plus the deaths of Ashley Burns and Lauren Chang, a pattern of delayed emergency medical services emerged and the NCSF jumped in to expand the Rehearsed Catastrophic Injury Emergency Plan for Competitive Cheerleaders to a comprehensive 9 page color guide to aid coaches during emergencies. The guide is free and can be downloaded at www.nationalcheersafety.com/emergencyplan.pdf.

“For cheerleading injuries to account for 2/3 of all catastrophic injuries to female athletes in high school and college is a huge red flag that will require identifying what factors put athletes’ at risk for injury to begin with, implementing new strategies, studying effects and making new changes to increase effectiveness. We have to stop comparing cheerleading injuries to other sports, or defending the alarming number of life altering injuries and get serious about learning from the injuries that have already happened.” stated Kimberly Archie, Executive Director of the NCSF.

After completing this year annual report Dr. Fred Mueller advised that, “Cheerleading should be considered a sport and as such should have qualified coaches, safe facilities, pre-participation physical exams, sports medicine care, and safe travel. Cheerleading will then receive the recognition it deserves, and injury prevention will play an important role,” Dr. Fred Mueller is a professor of Exercise and Sport Science at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Director of the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research. To view Dr. Mueller annual report, go to http://www.unc.edu/depts/nccsi/AllSport.htm.
Read more »

About.com has a great piece about cheerleading safety and what can be done to prevent injuries.

As with any sport, safety should be of the utmost concern for all involved in cheerleading. Whether you’re a cheerleader, coach or parent, your main objective should be to ensure the safety of everyone involved.

There are many references to safety studies that lead to insinuations that cheerleading is not a safe sport, but regardless of the statistics, one injury is too many. No one wants a broken bone, a day in the hospital, a visit to the ER or a catastrophic injury. Especially when a small amount of common sense can prevent any one of these outcomes.

The article goes on to include why cheerleading injuries occur and what you can do to prevent injuries.

Read the full article…

Technorati Tags: Cheerleading Safety, Cheerleading News

Technorati Tags: National Cheer Safety Foundation, South Lyon High School, Jen Combest, Cheerleading Safety

NCSSE press release:

Enterprise, AL-(June 24, 2008)- The National Council for Spirit Safety and Education (NCSSE) has forged a partnership with CrossConfirm, an authorized provider of the American Red Cross, to endorse and offer its Respect in Sport USA program to all coaches in NCSSE constituent organizations. Respect in Sport USA (www.RespectInSportUSA.com) is an internationally recognized program that educates coaches and protects youth athletes in the areas of bullying, harassment, neglect and various forms of abuse. Respect in Sport USA is delivered via the American Red Cross’ world-class online distance learning platform, which trains individuals in all 50 states and 34 countries around the world.

Debbie Bracewell, Executive Director of the NCSSE, added, “We are excited to be working with the American Red Cross and Respect in Sport in this joint endeavor to enhance cheerleading safety and coaching education. This program addresses risk management, maltreatment, and abuse prevention thus giving our coaches the skills to become proactive in recognizing these problems and making the team environment safer.”

Technorati Tags: NCSSE, Cheerleading Safety, Cheerleading

From the NCSSE monthly news letter:

June is National Safety Month–what can we do to mark this event:

1. Review emergency plans and revise where needed.
2. Have regular fire/emergency drills. Make sure everyone knows what to do and where to go.
3. Check all equipment for maintenance issues. Repair or replace.
4. If you live in an area known for dangerous storms, purchase a weather radio and keep it tuned to the correct channel for your area. Contact the Red Cross for group training for your coaches and cheerleaders.

Technorati Tags: NCSSE, Cheerleading Safety, Cheerleading News