OSU Cheerleaders Grounded

New cheerleading tryouts will be announced in the coming weeks.

Photo Courtesy: Oregon State University

(CORVALLIS) - In an effort to protect the health of students involved the increasingly high-risk sport of cheerleading, Oregon State University is changing its program to eliminate use of dangerous "stunts" and refocus the program's attention on cheering. OSU is not eliminating the program, athletic department officials emphasized. The university is, however, moving away from dangerous routines that have helped make cheerleading the second-most "catastrophic injury"-prone collegiate athletics activity behind only football, according to the NCAA. "We've made the decision to move away from risky acrobatics and refocus the program squarely on cheering," said OSU Associate Athletics Director Marianne Vydra. "We simply cannot appropriately supervise and facilitate these activities. The decision is really in the best interest of the student cheerleaders, who still have options to pursue competitive cheerleading and stunts as a student group." "We look forward to unveiling a new, expanded and improved program in the near future." OSU`s change comes in the wake of a high-profile injury last month to a cheerleader at Southern Illinois University who fell 15 feet during a routine and sustained a broken neck. The NCAA subsequently banned cheerleader pyramids more than two levels high and basket tosses without the use of a protective mat for the remainder of the 2006 basketball season, including the NCAA tournaments. That decision was supported by the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators. Many college and university programs nationwide are now examining their programs, including OSU colleague institutions in the Pacific-10 Conference. While OSU cheerleaders haven`t sustained catastrophic injuries, the multitude of injuries they've suffered have taxed the medical staff of the athletic department, and lessoned the time trainers have available for working with varsity athletes, officials say. OSU`s decision is based on additional factors, including supervision requirements and practice space. Practicing high-risk stunts requires significant supervision and extensive time in appropriately equipped facilities. Athletics department officials have had increased difficulty in recent years in funding labor-intensive supervision needs and juggling limited facilities in demand by numerous athletics teams, as well as the cheerleading program.