Cheer ruled a contact sport
Wisconsin Supreme Court rules cheerleading stunts are sufficient contact
Scott Hansen
Issue date: 2/2/09 Section: Campus News
On Tuesday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court made a ruling in a case that made the ears of the UW-Eau Claire Cheer and Stunt Team members perk up.
The issue of the case was whether cheerleaders qualify for immunity under a Wisconsin law that prevents participants in contact sports from suing each other for unintentional injuries, as the law did not spell out which sports were contact sports.
The court ruled that a former high school cheerleader cannot sue a teammate who failed to stop her fall while she was practicing a stunt, after the District 4 Court of Appeals ruled last year cheerleading does not qualify because there's no contact between opposing teams.
However, all seven members of the Supreme Court agreed to overturn that decision, citing the stunts in which cheerleaders are tossed in the air and the significant contact between cheerleaders as reasons for the decision, according to an Associated Press article.
The university's Cheer and Stunt Team captain and Chippewa Falls High School Cheer Team coach and junior Sammy Sheldon said that despite not being directly or immediately affected by the court's decision, she hopes that it will change the way people look at cheerleading as something that is easy.
"People still think it is old school, where you are just waiting around with poms jumping up and down, but it is more than that," Sheldon said. "(Cheerleading) is a sport where people can get hurt … we have gymnasts and dancers and people have been training for years (to do it) … it's not just something you can go out and do."
"People still think it is old school, where you are just waiting around with poms jumping up and down, but it is more than that," Sheldon said. "(Cheerleading) is a sport where people can get hurt … we have gymnasts and dancers and people have been training for years (to do it) … it's not just something you can go out and do."
The Cheer and Stunt Team receives very little money from the actual university, not enough to pay fully for a coach, Sheldon said. Most of the money that helps the team compete comes from the team members' fundraising and their own pockets.
"I hope it helps us to get recognized more as a sport at the university so we can make claim that we should be funded as a sport too," she said. Sheldon, who has been on the UW-Eau Claire Cheer and Stunt Team since she was a freshman, said the number of injuries that occur on the team correlates to whether or not the team is competing.
For her first year, the team did not compete and had few injuries, a result of not attempting more dangerous stunts in preparation for competition. Even now that the team is competing, Sheldon said they generally experiences just minor injuries, such as a hurt ankle.
"A lot of our people are skilled so they know how to stunt and they know how to stumble which helps to decrease injuries," Sheldon said.
She added the team also has two coaches and several certified team members who are certified in knowing the proper ways to stunt, spot and catch other team members.
The issue of the case was whether cheerleaders qualify for immunity under a Wisconsin law that prevents participants in contact sports from suing each other for unintentional injuries, as the law did not spell out which sports were contact sports.
The court ruled that a former high school cheerleader cannot sue a teammate who failed to stop her fall while she was practicing a stunt, after the District 4 Court of Appeals ruled last year cheerleading does not qualify because there's no contact between opposing teams.
However, all seven members of the Supreme Court agreed to overturn that decision, citing the stunts in which cheerleaders are tossed in the air and the significant contact between cheerleaders as reasons for the decision, according to an Associated Press article.
The university's Cheer and Stunt Team captain and Chippewa Falls High School Cheer Team coach and junior Sammy Sheldon said that despite not being directly or immediately affected by the court's decision, she hopes that it will change the way people look at cheerleading as something that is easy.
"People still think it is old school, where you are just waiting around with poms jumping up and down, but it is more than that," Sheldon said. "(Cheerleading) is a sport where people can get hurt … we have gymnasts and dancers and people have been training for years (to do it) … it's not just something you can go out and do."
"People still think it is old school, where you are just waiting around with poms jumping up and down, but it is more than that," Sheldon said. "(Cheerleading) is a sport where people can get hurt … we have gymnasts and dancers and people have been training for years (to do it) … it's not just something you can go out and do."
The Cheer and Stunt Team receives very little money from the actual university, not enough to pay fully for a coach, Sheldon said. Most of the money that helps the team compete comes from the team members' fundraising and their own pockets.
"I hope it helps us to get recognized more as a sport at the university so we can make claim that we should be funded as a sport too," she said. Sheldon, who has been on the UW-Eau Claire Cheer and Stunt Team since she was a freshman, said the number of injuries that occur on the team correlates to whether or not the team is competing.
For her first year, the team did not compete and had few injuries, a result of not attempting more dangerous stunts in preparation for competition. Even now that the team is competing, Sheldon said they generally experiences just minor injuries, such as a hurt ankle.
"A lot of our people are skilled so they know how to stunt and they know how to stumble which helps to decrease injuries," Sheldon said.
She added the team also has two coaches and several certified team members who are certified in knowing the proper ways to stunt, spot and catch other team members.
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