Cheerleader Wrongful Death Suit in Massachusetts Dismissed

I haven’t been able to locate the actual ruling but Ruth Burns’ wrongful death suit against East Elite Cheer Gym in Tewksbury, Massachusetts was dismissed by the Middlesex Superior Court. Ashley Burns was 14-years-old when practicing a routine with her team died from a ruptured spleen. No teammates or coaches were named in the suit, only the owners and coaches of East Elite Cheer Gym, the U.S. All Star Federation for Cheer and Dance Teams; along with the American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators. The story was first covered in 2008 by the Boston Herald.

Cheerleading Parents, to Avoid Catastrophic Injury to your Teen, Get Busy Learning the Cupie/Awesome

Today we’re going to talk more about cheerleading safety standards and parental involvement with the cheer squad. With the draconian legislative tort-reform measures put into place, it’s important for every parent to understand the safety standards their cheer coach should follow, when they aren’t and what risks their child is being exposed to. In addition college cheerleaders need the same information to make a choice as to what cheer stunts they should or shouldn’t be performing.

Cupie/Awesome - A stunt in which both feet of the top person are in one hand of a base.

I’ve listed on both the InjuryBoard site today and on the Lombardi Law Firm site the links to the applicable safety standards for high school and college cheerleading squads. These are standards they are supposed to follow. Each level of cheer competition should also be asking the questions about whether their coach has been through the safety course and what team member has also attended a safety course. That’s the standard rule and it’s in place for the protection of cheerleaders against catastrophic injury or death.

2009 – 2010 AACCA High School Safety Rules – at Lombardi Law Firm

2009 – 2010 AACCA College Safety Rules – at Lombardi Law Firm

2009 – 2010 AACCA High School Safety Rules – at the AACCA

2009- - 2010 AACCA College Safety Rules – at the AACCA

Link to Lombardi Law Firm’s links for high school and for college safety rules for 2009 – 2010.

A parent on each team should print out these rules (They are available as a pdf document, just follow the above links.)  and hand them out to other parents and cheerleader squad members. Parents should ban together to make sure these rules are adhered to; because if you child is catastrophically injured, and this is especially true in Wisconsin, you’re on your own as far as catastrophic medical insurance along with liability issues.

What I find interesting is the language parents need to learn. Fathers and mothers will be learning what is meant by a base, a cradle, a cupie/awesome, a dive roll, and a flatback, a flip, loading position, middle, pyramids, rewinds, spotter, stunt, top and a toss.  The rules are preceded by a definition section, then general program guidelines, then general restrictions, partner stunts and then guidelines for pyramids, tosses tumbling and specifics for indoor hard surface restrictions.

InjuryBoard Coverage of Cheer Safety

 

A New Era In Safety May Be Dawning for Cheerleaders | InjuryBoard ...

Irvine, California – July 29, 2009 - The National Cheer Safety Foundation (NCSF ... She regularly provides information and press releases for cheer safety. ... 101k

Here is what is wrong with Wisconsin's Anti-Cheerleader Tort ...

... Listen to the podcast. Follow the safety rules for high school and college cheer safety! ... You have to do the same with your personal cheer plan. ... 101k

If cheerleading is so safe why have so many cheerleaders died? ...

The National Cheer Safety Foundation has released Rehearsed Catastrophic Injury Emergency Plan For Competitive Cheerleading. ... 101k

Who Is Protecting Our Cheerleaders? Revisited | InjuryBoard Austin

... Our focus is coaching education for cheer coaches. ... Something else to keep in mind--the turnover rate for cheer coaches is huge. ... 98k

School Safety / Cheerleading: Fitting the uniform...and the image ...

... A recent article in Sports Illustrated highlighted the controversy surrounding an Idaho High School after fans were outraged about the cheer squad's teeny-tiny ... 101k

School Safety / Cheerleading: Sport or no sport, it's time for ...

... athletic endeavor.” Agreed. The organization also states outright on their homepage: “As the parents of cheer athletes,.... ... 101k

School Safety / Cheerleading: Acknowledged as competitive, but not ...

Iowa Elite Cheer, Inc. (which is a competitive organization that ... Iowa Elite Cheer, Inc. (which is a competitive organization that ... 101k

Protect yourself and your child, know your rights and how to stay alive and well. Enjoy your weekend.