You don't have to sell me on it being a sport.... I know as I lived it!!! Lifted weights, ran with leg weights on, did aroebics for cardio, all this on top of regularly scheduled daily practices..... MANY different types of injuries between all the girls I cheered with as well.... I personally have had lower back strains, knee injuries, pulled muscles (quad), nothing broken except a finger so I was lucky!!
Cheerleaders work very hard at what they do for minimal respect!!!
Cheerleading is very dangerous. With all the tumbling and the stunting going, countless injuries occur. It annoys me that some administrations think that by telling their teams that they aren't allowed to stunt or tumble anymore will minimize injuries. What really cause injuries are coaches who aren't aware of the safety precautions, who don't follow the safety progressions, who aren't qualifed to coach, who have no clue what they're doing, who don't discipline their squad, and who let the girls/guys try whatever 'looks cool.' Put a coach in there who knows what they're doing and I guarantee you injuries would go down for your squad. Not saying no one would get hurt, because accidents do happen. But many of them can be avoided.