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Out of the United States ' 2. 9 million female high school athletes, only 3 % are cheerleaders, yet cheerleading accounts for 65 % of all catastrophic injuries in girls ' high school athletics.

Since the NCAA has yet to recognize cheerleading as an official college sport, there are no solid numbers on college cheerleading, yet when it comes to injuries, 67 % of female athlete injuries at the college level are due to cheerleading mishaps.

LiveScience. com recaps new evidence showing that the most dangerous sport for high school and college females is cheerleading: Another study 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.