IV 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 175 

Expressing support for designation of March 2015 as ‘‘National Cheerleading 

Safety Month’’. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

Mr. VEASEY submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 

Committee on Energy and Commerce 

RESOLUTION 

Expressing support for designation of March 2015 as 

‘‘National Cheerleading Safety Month’’. 

Whereas approximately 3,600,000 youth participate in 

cheerleading activities each year in the United States; 

Whereas there was a spike in catastrophic cheerleading injuries during the 2005–2006 season leading to an invigorated safety effort that has seen a drop in injuries each 

year following and the risk of serious injury is now statistically lower than most other sports and athletics in 

schools thanks to this added vigilance; 

Whereas cheerleading has experienced a major reduction in 

injuries in recent years, thanks to increased regulation 

and coach training, such that, in the 4 years that 

cheerleading has been included in the National High 

School Sports-Related Injury Surveillance Study, 


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•HRES 175 IH 

cheerleading has been consistently ranked among the 

safest sports in high school for overall injury rate with 

between the 16th and 18th lowest injury rate out of 20 

high school sports; 

Whereas according to the Consumer Products Safety Commission’s NEISS reporting system, cheerleading emergency room visits are now low compared to several other 

girls’ sports; 

Whereas in fact, girls’ cheerleading resulted in fewer emergency room visits in 2011 (36,925) than girls’ basketball 

(94,886), soccer (70,043), or softball (52,986); 

Whereas with all youth athletic activities, continued safety 

awareness and vigilance is needed; 

Whereas March is a time to raise awareness, prevent injuries, 

and increase overall safety in cheerleader performance 

through the creation and promotion of National 

Cheerleading Safety Month; 

Whereas USA Cheer, the United States All Star Federation 

for Cheer and Dance Teams (USASF), and American 

Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators 

(AACCA) raise awareness, prevent injuries, and increase 

overall safety in cheerleader performance through their 

CheerSafe initiative to continue to improve the safety of 

the more than 3,000,000 cheerleaders in the United 

States; 

Whereas CheerSafe members commit to ensuring that every 

cheerleading team be trained under the direction of a 

knowledgeable coach, and that every cheerleading team 

follows established safety rules and that they have an 

emergency plan in place; 


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Whereas, since the implementation of this training through 

CheerSafe, there have been no catastrophic injury claims 

stemming from a cheerleading practice, game, or competition; 

Whereas nearly 98 percent of emergency room visits for 

cheerleaders are designated as ‘‘treated and released’’, resulting in no hospital stay; 

Whereas the most common emergency room visits involve 

sprains and strains to the ankles, knees, and wrists; and 

Whereas March 2015 would be an appropriate month to designate ‘‘National Cheerleading Safety Month’’: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) supports the designation of ‘‘National 

3 Cheerleading Safety Month’’; and 

4 (2) supports efforts to educate cheerleaders on 

5 the importance of safety and promote efforts to raise 

6 awareness, prevent injuries, and increase overall 

7 safety in cheerleader performance. 

Æ 


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