Dr Frederick Mueller, a sports injury expert at the University of North Carolina, who did the research, told The Sunday Telegraph: "We are getting more and more of these cheerleading injuries, and they are pretty serious head and neck injuries. They're throwing people in the air 20 to 25 feet and trying to catch them on the way down. It's really gymnastic activity. It shouldn't be called cheerleading any more.Of course both football and cheerleading injuries could be cut down dramatically if they would just eliminate those banners. Cheerleaders Are Risking Serious Injury And Death To Support Their Teams [Telegraph.co.uk]
It's official: Cheerleading is more dangerous than playing football. At least that's according to the National Centre for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, which has studies such things. They say that football has more deaths overall, but cheerleading has more serious injuries. No word on how dangerous it is to be in the band.