The LHS cheer team has had 17 concussions since 2020.
But even with so many concussions and other injuries, the team has had years of success. Including winning grand champions at almost every competition, they have also won grand champs at districts and placed sixth overall at state in 2023.
The team has also gone to state for the last 12 years.
However, this year, the LHS cheer team is working on limiting the number of concussions and other injuries with new concussion helmets.
With concussion-preventing helmets, the team will be able to improve faster in stunting and tumbling.
“Mr. Neff actually did help cover the cost of our helmets because he also wanted to reduce the numbers of concussions on the team,” head coach Cynthia Peck said.
The concussion helmets do not only help the team stay safe, but they also will the cheerleaders feel more comfortable during practice.
“The helmets help with confidence in trying new stunts, which was actually unexpected by the other coaches and I,” Peck said.
The team has been able to master harder skills at a faster pace with the help of these helmets.
After many concussions, it can be hard to move past the fear of getting injured again.
Since the addition of the helmets to the cheer team, there has only been one concussion.
Many cheerleaders who have had concussions feel less confident in trying new stunts because of the risk of getting another concussion and being taken out of a routine due to injury.
“It makes me more scared to do certain things because I feel like my head is more fragile,” Hailey Wear said. “But there’s another aspect of it that makes me feel like I just need to push through and challenge myself to do more.”
Wear is a flyer on the team who has had 3 concussions since her freshman year.
WIth the concussion helmets, she and the rest of the team have more confidence in trying more elite skills.
“I can try anything new without a second thought. Like that time I fell on my head and back and Charlie fell on top of me, I did not know someone kicked my head when I fell because I had a helmet on,” Wear said.
In every position in cheer, it is equally scary, and there are plenty of ways to get injured. As anyone can imagine, throwing another person into the air and catching them can be scary, or being lifted in the air by one to three people at a time, hoping they will not drop their flyer and hoping the flyer will not kick one of the bases or freak out in the air.
It takes a lot of training to teach cheerleaders how to handle mistakes in stunting.
Flyers and bases have to go against their natural instincts to either not freak out and flail their arms and legs while falling, or for bases, they have to make sure they catch the flyer no matter what, even if they get hit in the process.
“Yes, I most definitely feel safer with the helmets. Especially since my first concussion was caused by a flyer falling on my head,” Kyra Lundt said.
Another perk of the helmets is not having to take anyone out of routines because of concussions. With one person out, a whole routine would have to change entirely, so having the tools to prevent that can make learning routines much easier and faster.
“Having concussions has changed cheer for me because having to be out for a while makes it a lot more stressful, especially during competition season,” Lundt said.
There are still injuries that can occur that the helmets will not prevent. However, concussions are one of the most common injuries in cheerleading.
A possible downside of the helmets is making sure the team does not become reliant on the helmets. Unlike other sports, cheerleading does not use helmets while competing. So if the team is using the helmets for every practice and every stunt, the team is more likely to rely on them to keep their heads safe.
Cheerleading is seen as an easy sport, but most people do not take into consideration that the main point of cheer is to make everything look effortless even when it is not.
Cheer has been debated for years about whether it is a sport or not.
Even though it can be looked up and seen that the answer is it is, in fact, a sport, many do not consider cheer a sport because cheerleaders do not wear helmets, knee pads or any other protective gear.
Colin Killian has been in football, wrestling, baseball and cheerleading at some point during his high school career.
“Our competition team has been working so hard, and cheer does not get recognized enough for how many injuries there can be,” Killian said. “You could easily break a finger or get a concussion from someone falling on you, anything could happen, and cheer is definitely one of the hardest sports I have done.”
Using helmets while competing is not an option; during a routine, every stunt should look flawless.
Wearing bows and cheer uniforms adds an effortless effect to the routines.
A helmet in the routines can give the effect that the routines are more dangerous, taking away from the idea of an effortless performance.
It takes weeks, and sometimes even months for routines, dances and cheers to look perfect.
Even after weeks of practice making each elite stunt look more and more effortless, that does not mean it is not dangerous.
“I think cheer safety depends on a lot of factors,” Megan Cox, LHS’ athletic trainer said. “We have a coaching staff that is super safe with things, but that’s not a thing everywhere. But the theory behind cheer is dangerous itself. You’re throwing people in the air and hoping you catch them.”
Still, most cheer teams do not use concussion helmets while practicing.
As cheerleading becomes more difficult and routines become more elaborate, helmets are starting to be used more commonly.
As the first season of cheer with the concussion helmets reaches the busiest time of the year, the team is grateful for the helmets.
In the next four weeks, the cheer team will be competing every Saturday. “I think cheerleading is equally dangerous compared to other sports, but I think the cheer coaches at the school do a lot of injury prevention to keep the team safe,” Cox said.
The LHS cheer coaches work hard to keep the team as safe as possible when trying new skills, and the helmets have greatly improved the team’s concussion rates.