The Most Dangerous Sport in the U.S. is…

It’s not football. It’s not hockey. It’s cheerleading!

That’s right – cheerleading is far more dangerous than any other sport in the U.S. according to a new report from the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The report looked at all high school and college sports, both males and females.

Researchers have long known how dangerous cheerleading is, but records were poorly kept until recently. An update to the record-keeping system last year found that between 1982 and 2007, there were 103 fatal, disabling or serious injuries recorded among female high school athletes, with the vast majority (67) occurring in cheerleading. The next most dangerous sports: gymnastics (nine such injuries) and track (seven).

The most dangerous label comes even after the number of cheerleading injuries and fatalities fell from previous years records.

“Progress has been slow, but there has been an increased emphasis on cheerleading safety,” said the study’s author Frederick O. Mueller. “Continued data collection on all types of cheerleading injuries will hopefully show that these safety measures are working to reduce injuries.”

The next most dangerous sports after cheerleading are gymnastics and track. No mention of football anywhere.

What do you think about the most dangerous designation?

p.s. Break-dancers apparently have a lot to worry about, too. Protective gear, anyone?