Whether you think so or not, cheerleading is a very dangerous sport. You can get injured from doing almost anything that the sport consists of. This is the most dangerous female sport because of how easily you can receive concussions, and other injuries.

Cheerleading isn’t a sport where you just cheer on a team anymore. It has evolved greatly since it has originated back in the 18th century. Stunting, jumping and tumbling were all brought into the sport which made cheerleading more dangerous than it ever was before.

The three main injuries you would typically get from cheer are: wrist, ankle, and knee. There are a lot of running, jumping and tumbling in a routine which can cause a lot of stress on your ankles. It doesn’t just cause stress on your ankles, but your knees too if you don’t land correctly on your feet after a tumbling pass or stunting. It’s a habit when you fall to catch yourself with your hands, and when you do that you can either break your arm or severely injure your wrist. Another way you can injure your wrist is by stunting, basing puts a lot of strain on your wrists.

The most important thing to do to prevent injuries is to always warm up before practicing, and that is the case with all sports. All my years of cheering I have warmed up the same way every practice, we start off by running and then have a 20-30 minute team stretch. Another thing you can do to prevent injuries is to always say no if you don’t feel comfortable with performing something that seems too dangerous.