As a former cheerleader, I'm not even remotely surprised by the recently released statistics showing that cheerleading causes the highest percentage of injuries for female athletes. When you consider the stunts, and lifts, and jumps, and tumbling... it's just not a shocker at all.

According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research based out of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, cheerleading accounts for 65.1% of female athlete injuries at the high school level and 66.7% at college level.

The American Association of Cheerleading Coaches and Administrators has safety rules for college, high school, and all star levels. While injuries can (and do) occur within these guidelines, adhering to the safety rules will minimize injury risk.

Still, knowing all the associated risk, if I were magically transported back to more youthful years, I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. Cheering was hard work and awesome fun, and I loved every minute of it.