Risk of injury for cheerleading “considerably higher”, repor

soccer, and baseball are just a few that generally cross the mind. but — you may not consider cheerleading. however — as 47 a-b-c’s lili zheng explains — some medical experts say it carries just as many risks. track 1 the flips — sky-high tosses — and jumps. they’re what make some cheerleading routines so dazzling — bringing crowds to their feet. nat pop from abc b-roll track 2 but it’s the falls — that doctor gerard gioia joy-ya says can seriously injure an athlete. so we see kids in clinic who are cheerleaders, because there’s been a fall, they weren’t caught properly or the person trying to do the catching is kicked or kneed or is elbowed track 3 doctor gioia — a pediatric neuro-psychologist — serves as chief in the division of neuropsychology at the children’s national health system. he tells 47 a-b-c — sports in general have gained popularity over the past several decades — among kids. cheerleading specifically — draws roughly three million young people — more than 400-thousand at the high school level abc news but according to the american association of pediatrics — the risk of “direct catastrophic injury”is “considerably higher” for cheerleading. injuries could result in “permanent injury, paralysis or death.” it’s why one competitive cheerleading gym in salisbury — stresses the importance of progression when it comes to learning new tricks. especially — when it comes to gymnastics. we’ve got multiple tumbling units that you use to start learning how to tumble and you’ve got your coaches working with you,so you’re not just tumbling on a regular floor or out in the grass track 4 jesseca brown — a strength and conditioning coach with the nor’eastern storm all stars — says the sport of cheerleading has come a long way — in terms of injury prevention. part of it — is the practice of progression — but another part is having extra eyes on the floor. as for doctor gioia… it is gymnastics in the air, no doubt …he stresses the importance of recognizing when a child is hurt — and getting them medical help as soon as possible. track 5 lili zheng, 47 a-b-c now many of the clips we showed you were of a competitive — or what’s sometimes referred to as an all-star team in that report. but — injuries are no stranger to high school teams. according to coaches we spoke to — the difference between an all-star and high school team is generally the level of difficulty. a competitive team — for example — can qualified up to level six. that generally mirrors skills on a collegiate level. whereas — a high school team only goes up to a level five. another a big difference — according to one high school coach — is what she calls game day readiness. our girls…it may not be a four and a half minute routine. they have to have that stamina to do a two-a-half hour game and be able to respond to a crowd in an instant when defense and offense changes, you may have to change what your plan is for the game this weekend — the pop warner cheerleading competition is taking place in smyrna, delaware — which includes squads from across delmarva. and switching gears here — to a good cause. tomorrow —