Cheerleading Mats
by Karen
Mats for cheerleading are not a frivolous endeavor; cheerleading mats are necessary for a sport and entertainment growing more and more rigorous each year. While the most basic cultural stereotype of cheerleading may still be of pretty young girls waving pom-poms and leading cheers through megaphones, in the last a couple of decades cheerleading has evolved into an elaborate blend of dance and gymnastics.
The Increasing Athleticism of Modern Cheerleading
If your daughter is flinging her body about in somersaults and flips with a team of athletic teens leveraging human catapults to elicit excitement from a crowd, you will want some high quality cheerleading tumbling mats ensuring her safety. Cheerleading stunts grow ever more daring and athletic each year and thus require ever more durable and serious cheerleading mats.
So it is vital that you utilize plenty of quality cheerleading exercise mats in all aspects of practice and performance. I know some people cringe at the prospect of lugging extensive cheer-leading mats on to the football field or basketball court, but let’s not be foolish here. Modern cheerleading has become rigorous sport, whether it is officially recognized as such or not.
Cheerleading Mats
Gymnastic mats and tumbling mats shouldn’t be used just for gymnastics routines. They should be the fundamental equipment of the serious cheerleader. Cheerleading stunts and cheerleading floors need not produce the injuries current statistics exhibit. We just need responsible routines and responsible cheerleading equipment.
Evidence of Increasing Cheerleading Injuries
In the 1990s, despite participation in cheer squads increasing by less than 20 percent, serious injuries occurring from cheerleading nearly tripled (a nearly 300 percent increase).
One of the fundamental problems we have here is that many schools still do not treat cheerleading as a sport. It is still too often viewed as a social support activity for other sports. Thus cheerleading squads can exist and train without any kind of certified oversight and aren’t regulated with the same safety measures established for major sports like football and basketball.
In less-than-affluent areas, schools often don’t dedicate the budget for the cheerleaders to obtain and maintain proper safety equipment. And the most important safety equipment a cheerleading squad can utilize are proper cheerleading mats.
As Brenda Shields of the Columbus Children’s Research Institute in Ohio explicitly stated in a recent pediatric study illustrating the growing necessity of safety equipment in cheerleading:
“Cheerleaders may practice in hallways and practice on hard surfaces instead of mats. So when they fall off a pyramid or from in the air and they land on hard surfaces, the chances for injury are drastically increased.”
In reaction to all the negative statistics arising from these studies, many schools have put restrictions on stunts rather than working to increase safety measures. For example, starting in 2002 the University of Nebraska imposed a “ground-bound” restriction on the routines exhibited by their cheerleaders, stopping pyramids and flips.
Cheerleading Controversy: Sexism or Practical Safety?
As you might imagine, this move has catalyzed a bit of controversy. Some consider it sexist, with the criticized implication being that young women and girls should not be engaging in the same level of physical duress as young men and boys. Some taking a more severe perspective even argue that the shift has led to an emphasis on subtle sex appeal over athleticism, something that certainly seems inappropriate for our young daughters.
This seems at least somewhat evident in the nature of college cheerleading uniforms we see all over men’s sports magazines (see the hundreds of cheerleading pictures maintained by the Sports Illustrated website).
For two opposing views on this matter, here are two quotes from opposing perspectives:
Lynn Williamson, University of Kentucky cheer team adviser:
“In our society, it’s acceptable that every year a number of young men will die on a football field. But, my heavens, if a female breaks a fingernail, or her arm, well, then it must be time to ground them.”
University of Nebraska spokesperson Barry Swanson:
“We didn’t eliminate cheerleading or reduce the cheerleading budget in any way. All we eliminated was the danger … In football you have helmets and pads… Cheerleaders do their stunts on hardwood floors or turf. We consider that risk without reason.”
The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors has implemented and refined a safety course for cheerleading coaches and a cheerleader safety manual.
Incorporate More Cheerleading Mats to Responsibly Evolve Cheerleading
I strongly encourage cheerleaders to both learn appropriate routines while slowly working towards more advanced routines and to always use the appropriate safety equipment, namely, cheerleading mats.
Perhaps we can appease all sides by implementing the same safety and gradual training systems utilized by the gymnastics world. In gymnastics, it is vital to master gymnastics techniques in the appropriate sequence and increased difficulty. Gymnasts are not to even attempt certain difficult routines until they have mastered the lead-up techniques. Quality gymnastics features a series of skills and habits built upon previous skills and habits.
Just like gymnasts, cheerleaders should develop strength and flexibility as they build skills upon skills. And each step of the way cheerleading mats should be integrated to not only prevent moment-to-moment, individual injuries, but to reduce the overall wear and tear of such rigorous physical activity.
What to Look for In A Cheerleading Mat
Cheerleading mats should be rugged and durable. They should be sweat resistant and capable of maintaining an appropriately grippy surface despite the presense of perspiration. Different mats should be utilized for different routines. Some routines greater support and stiffness for leverage while others require extra softness to prevent impact injury.
Cheerleading Equipment
Be wary of cheap cheerleading mats and used cheerleading mats. The safety of your daughter should trump saving a few bucks. Home cheerleading mats and home gym mats are a great idea, but keep your eye out for quality cheerleading mats for sale rather than skimp on used or lackluster equipment.