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Top-5 Most Dangerous Sports For Girls

high school girls basketball players

Follow @Nate_WekSDPB

1. Girls Basketball

According to a study by Web MD, over a 10-year gap, Traumatic Brain Injuries have increased by 70 percent for the sport. In 1997 there were 7,030 TBI injuries with girls basketball, and it increased to 11,948 in 2007.

2. Cheerleading

NBC News has reported that cheerleading accidents account for 65 percent of all high school girl athletic injuries. Since 1980, the emergency room visits from cheerleading accidents have tripled. This is alarming as only 10 percent of high school female athletes are cheerleaders.

3. Horseback Riding

Dr. Gloria M. Beim believes horseback riding is 20 times more dangerous than riding a motorcycle. On average, equestrians experience an accident every 350 hours of horseback riding. Falling off a horse can be a catastrophic incident that could lead to serious head and/or spinal-cord injuries.

4. Soccer

The NCAA revealed (as a result of a study) that 11 percent of the injuries in women’s soccer are concussions. In men’s soccer, only 5 percent of injuries are concussion related. In girl’s soccer, athletes are most likely to sustain a concussion by colliding with another player, rather than heading the ball.

5. Field Hockey

With field hockey, players have a 62 percent risk of sustaining multiple injuries at the same time. The most common injuries in girl’s field hockey are lower-back pain (from constantly playing with a hunched over stance), hip, knee, and ankle. If an athlete sustains a head injury, it’s typically because a player got hit in the head with someone else’s field hockey stick.

Nate Wek is currently the sports content producer and sports and rec beat reporter for South Dakota Public Broadcasting. He is a graduate of South Dakota State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism Broadcasting and a minor in Leadership. From 2010-2013 Nate was the Director of Gameday Media for the Sioux Falls Storm (Indoor Football League) football team. He also spent 2012 and 2013 as the News and Sports Director of KSDJ Radio in Brookings, SD. Nate, his wife Sarah, and three sons, Braxan, Jordy, and Anders live in Canton, SD.