FuzzyTummyRumblings

Well here's the thing.  THIS  is not news.  First thing- The AACCA has no say in what is and isn't legal.  If I say "I think it's a good idea to ban stupid people from having children."  People agree with me.  But that doesn't make a difference.  Why?  Because I have no say in who has babies.  The AACCA is one of many organizations that is trying to regulate coach training for my beloved sport.  They don't make the rules.  NCA and UCA could affect that- but they won't.  Because their competitions are safe, run well, and don't NEED to make their safety regulations any more strict.

Second thing- Thousands of people die every year from automobile collisions.  Who is out there saying "We need to ban cars that go over thirty miles per hour."  Nobody.  Don't get me started on this.  This is stupid.  You get the idea.

Third- The safety regulations that cheerleading NEEDS it won't get until the NCAA and all of the state high school associations start treating it like the sport it has become.  We're not treated like a sport and that means we are inherrently unsafe.  In football, a coach has to have a certain level of experience and knowledge to coach.  No school is going to put somebody in charge of a football team whose only qualifications are, "My best friend played football in high school."  But I took a cheer coach job in Iowa where the woman I replaced was exactly that qualified.  When we're treated like the athletes we've become, the safety and the well-being of the students involved will be much higher.

You'll notice that you never see these articles about major cheerleading competitions.  Why?  Because All-Star cheerleaders are treated by their gyms, coaches, and parents as athletes.  We do everything possible to ensure their safety. We build strength and flexibility to reduce injuries.  We use a logical progression of skills and don't allow them to move on without mastering the lower levels.  By the time an athlete is throwing a back tuck basket, her bases will catch her no matter WHAT she does and she won't screw up because she's done it a thousand times.  Most importantly- we ensure that the coaches KNOW all of this so that they don't do something stupid.  At most schools (both high schools and colleges) there isn't enough done to ensure that the coaches are doing their jobs.  You want safer cheerleaders?  Treat us like a sport.  Treat competitive cheerleading like a sport and it will be a sport.  Most of us have been begging for it for a long time.