Cheerleading safety efforts have led to modest reductions in the number of serious injuries in recent years

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 report defines catastrophic injuries as any severe or fatal injury incurred during participation in the sport

1982 through the spring of 2008:

There were 1,116 direct catastrophic injuries in high school (905) and college sports (211)

High school sports were associated with 152 fatalities, 379 non-fatal injuries and 374 serious injuries