Comments about ‘Cheerleading dangerous? No kidding’

Why not just get rid of cheer? Doing so will also solve the problem of staying in dress code and diminish the objectification of women. Having less injuries is an added bonus. We'd also save money in education that we could actually use for true educational purposes.

What does cheerleading add to the High School experience? For me, the only thing they added was hormones and lust during our football games (they were better to watch than the football team because they had great bodies and our football team stunk). During BBall they got in the way (Our BBall team was great).

Cheerleading, though it builds great sexy bodies, has no purpose in school. Getting rid of it would be a wise thing to do.

"That's one of the funnest things in cheer, is stunting and tumbling," said Gina Romney, cheerleading coach at Lehi High. "But I am very, very strict about safety protocol."

Ouch--Are coaches required to have a college degree? It would be "Most Fun" and educational if the adults around these girls could actually speak the language correctly.

Cheer has always been very athletic, and the women doing it very strong. If they want to risk their life to be the center of attention, let them. but maybe this shouldn't be allowed as a High School activity with the dangers involved. I wouldn't want my daughter sent to the hospital, nor wearing those uniforms so all the guys and old men at the games can stare at them.

It's true that many people don't realize just how prone to injuries cheerleaders can be. I had friends on various squads over the years with broken bones and other injuries, and my young cousin Kendall nearly died during a cheerleading exhibition. She was 13 at the time, and had just completed a tumbling run during a pep rally, and was bent over in a backbend waiting the finish of the routine. The girl coming up behind her miscounted her own run, and landed on top of her, breaking her neck in four places. Luckily she lived through the experience, but she can't bend her neck at all. They had to fuse the bones together in order to get them to heal. That was about six years ago now. I don't think a lot of people realize just how much work and effort those girls (and boys) put into their routines, or the danger involved.

That's all cheerleading does, is give some girls an attitude that they're better than others. And their parents are even worse than the girls, thinking their daughters are privileged. That's why they're willing to fork out the hundreds of dollars it cost to be a cheerleader, so daughter can be "cool" and "popular" and so the mom can strut around like she's "cool" as well.

Cheer leading!?! The two terms are contradictory to each other. The "eye candies" at our high school games don't cheer, they don't even understand the games. They cheer for the defense when we have the ball in football, and chant about rebounds when we have the ball in basketball. Thank heavens they take baseball season off. Can you imagine them singing the seventh inning stretch?

My Girls won't cheer. They are too bright...

to 3 Daughers and mom of boys: Don't know what the GPA has to be for football and basketball, but for cheer it was a 3.0 and my daughter and her friends were ALL 4.0 at OHS. I can't believe the jealousy posted here: privileged, cool and popular? Oh please. I don't know which high school you're referring to, but our girls were on student council, held fund-raisers, in drama and all were on HIGH honor roll. You all sound like 'wanna-be's' - we "moms who apparently strutted around" (what??!!) were all very proud of our 'high performers' who have all gone to college with a strong work ethic, high GPAs, confidence and the ability to work with others - a strong benefit in the work world. Stop hating.

I have to say that I am very saddened to see all the people on here bashing Cheerleading! For some girls it can add positive self-esteem and it helps them find some good friends. It is not their fault that guys stare. What are your feelings about a volleball game? Or even some softball games? In VB most teams wear Spandex that go as high up as a swim suit. (I personally think that is disgusting but to each their own.) On some SB teams the shorts are so short that they could never pass a dress code. Extra curricular activities don't follow a dress code as far as I know. In all the schools I have been to I have never seen it as a problem. Maybe MOM OF 3 BOYS, the problem lies with your boys. Are yours the ones hollaring slandering comments at my girls during games and warm-ups? I appreciate the HARD WORK and SCHOOL SPIRIT that the cheerleaders put in to make our school a better and more fun atmosphere! GO CHEERLEADERS!!! But for heavens sake, BE CAREFUL!

Wow! Hey Morality Police!

Why all the attacks on Cheerleading and the young ladies that do it?

What is the harm in having an activity of support for the sports teams? At our school we have men AND women that cheer, it sounds like a bunch of the issues with Cheer would go away if more schools were like that and didn't go to the all girl squads.

ps As far as objectifying women ......... are you serious? There is alot more skin shown in the hall everyday than what the cheerleaders wear.

objectifying women? turn on the TV to virtually ANY channel at ANY time and you see alot more stuff than kids being genuinely happy that their side has scored a Touchdown.

i agree with "3 daughters." the cheerleaders at our school are made fun of because of their lack of actual "leading." the student section is led in cheers by a group of class officers and enthusiastic fans that actually know what to cheer about and when to cheer about it. they actually lead the cheer girls. most of the football players are embarrassed by our cheerleaders.

What a crock.. I have two sons that play sports and a daughter who cheers.. The cost of the sports side is ALOT more expensive.

Come on Deseret News, this is not even a story (let alone worth front page coverage). Give me news I can use!

I totally agree with "what??" and "HS VB/SB Coach" comments. Are you all really that sad and pathetic that you have to put other's talents down to make yourself feel better? Cheerleaders work just as hard if not harder than every other sport and their season is year round. They are required to attend almost every sporting event at my school (both boys and girls) and keep a 3.0 GPA. They are considered SBOs of the school and are held to a higher standard of conduct than other students.
My team (which is co-ed) practice 3 hours every other day following the safety practices of the NFHS. I have had some minor injuries in the 7 years I've coached, but no catastrophic ones. This is because I don't allow my kids to do stunts they are not ready for. I follow a progression chart so that there isn't the pressure to "out do" other teams. The focus should be on having fun and supporting the school.

That's unfortunate that the cheerleaders at your school are ridiculed - that must be hard on the girls who spend hours and hours in practice. Maybe it's a sign of the time at your high school and perhaps cheer should be eliminated and all of you can listen to the band and your enthusiastic fans can lead everyone in cheering and then everyone would be happy :( Great comments SLCGuy, what?? and HS VB - just a lot of ignorant, jealous posters here. I found Separates the rich comment laughable and pathetic - WOW are you jealous!

Everything in life is dangerous. Boys in High School get football, hockey, hard ball baseball, wrestling and more. So give me a break (no pun intended) cheerleading is a good thing and it should stay.

Obviously most people don't have a clue about cheerleaders. I have had 3 girls that cheered and they worked so hard for every sport. My daughters have all been honor students part of the National Honor Society and have done plenty of community service along with all the hard long hours of cheer practice. And to the person who says it would save the school money, our school does not give the cheerleaders one cent. They raise it all themselves or I pay. They support all of the other athletes. Our cheerleaders just made 100 posters for every athlete of every sport in the school including Rodeo for homecoming. Wake up everyone and don't comment on things you don't have a clue about.

some of the stunts these girls perform are scary! i've seen many missed spots. a friend who was a high school and college cheerleader is ruined for life with debilitating back problems from cheering. there should be oversight and fines imposed for lack of safety practices so these girls are safe.

Just because it's physically demanding and requires some skill, that doesn't make it a sport. I know people who have jobs that require skill and are physically demanding, but we don't call them professional athletes, we call them construction workers.

As any cheerleading event is decided by 'judges' it's a competition, not a sport.

I have always told my athletes when they complain that the work out is too hard that they should look at the dance team or cheerleaders. The dance team is up at 5:00am everymorning working hard on their dance routine, etc. I personaly believe the dance and cheer teams are the hardest working athletes in the school. Love the article.

American Heritage Dictionary definition of sport: 1. Physical activity (cheer is physical) that is governed by a set of rules (school and UCA) or customs and often engaged in competitively (yearly competitions held nationwide). 2.A particular form of this activity. Care to argue about something else you know nothing about? Your analogy about construction workers is ridiculous.