Brenda Shields Quotations

The 12-to-18-year-olds sustained primarily lower extremity injuries such as strains or sprains. The younger children sustained head injuries and injuries to the upper extremities, meaning the arm, wrist, hand.

Currently a lot of schools and coaches have their own safety rules, but they're not the same as another school down the road and may not be as stringent.

Currently, a lot of coaches are not truly trained in coaching cheerleading. They are just teachers that take on the responsibility and don't know what they're doing.

Ten or 15 years ago, they were basically standing leading cheers on the sidelines. They weren't throwing each other up in the air, and they weren't forming tall pyramids. The injuries that can result are severe.

A set of universally enforced rules and regulations directed at increasing the safety of cheerleading should be implemented.

This increase ... is most likely a result of an increase in the difficulty of stunts being attempted by cheerleaders in recent years as cheerleading has evolved from a school-spirit activity into an activity demanding high levels of gymnastics skill and athleticism.

These injuries more than doubled during the 13-year period we studied.