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Risking safety for school spirit: schools often rely on exculpatory contracts to escape liability when their cheerleaders get hurt. Knowing the limits of these releases can help you rally the court's support for your client's claim.

Article Excerpt
Cheerleading is a far more dangerous activity today than it was a decade ago. Over the years, it has evolved into a competitive sport of its own. Privately sponsored cheerleading squads now vie for titles and trophies at local, state, and national competitions.

The increasingly competitive nature of the sport has driven high school and college cheerleading squads to perform ever more risky acrobatic and gymnastic feats, and serious injuries are more common. (1) The National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research at the University of North Carolina found that "high school cheerleading accounted for 50 percent of all high school direct catastrophic injuries to female athletes and 64.5 percent at the college level." (2) Researchers also noted an increase in catastrophic injuries to female athletes since 1983, and they attributed this in large part to "the change in cheerleading activity, which now involves gymnastic-type stunts." (3)

A recent study published in the journal Pediatrics looked at emergency room statistics from 1990 to 2002 and found an increase of 110 percent in cheerleading-related injuries treated in hospital emergency departments during that time. (4) The same study reported that most cheerleading injuries (61.9 percent) occurred at school and found that the increase in injuries "is most likely the result of an increase in the difficulty of stunts being attempted by cheerleaders in recent years as cheerleading has evolved from a school-spirit activity into an activity demanding high levels of gymnastics skill and athleticism." (5)

Rather than taking steps to monitor cheerleaders more closely, educational institutions have increasingly relied on exculpatory contracts to avoid liability. These contracts can be used to insulate an institution from liability completely or partially.

Cheerleading is a sport without a central regulatory authority. Various organizations have published safety guidelines for cheerleading, but they are inconsistent. Some apply only to particular competitions, while others are limited to certain age groups or organizations. Most guidelines outline physical boundaries, like ceiling heights, rather than minimal safety standards for cheers or training requirements for coaches.

Several organizations offer certifications for coaches, but their standards and membership requirements vary widely. The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Advisors (AACCA), the only not-for-profit cheerleading advisory group, publishes safety guidelines. (6) It also tests and certifies coaches, but not all schools require the certifications, and other organizations publish competing, less comprehensive guidelines that many coaches choose to follow. (7)

The potential consequences of error in high school and college cheerleading are greater than those of many other sporting activities. When a soccer coach fails to properly train team members, the team risks losing the game. However, because cheerleading involves skilled gymnastic stunts--often performed in the air--if cheerleaders are not properly trained, they risk suffering catastrophic injury.

Defensive line

In recent years, courts have examined whether exculpatory contracts should prevent recovery in cheerleading injury cases or be admitted as evidence of a victim's negligence or assumption of the risk. (8) Because state law...