Legal News

Athletic, Maybe, But Cheerleading Not a Contact Sport, Court Rules

By Dan Slater

Is cheerleading a “contact sport”?

Not according to a Wisconsin appellate court, which is good news for the lawsuit brought by ninth-grade cheerleader Brittany Noffke, who reportedly fell while practicing a three-person stunt and suffered a head injury. Noffke sued Kevin Bakke, another cheerleader who allegedly failed to properly spot Noffke.

Click here for a report from the Marquette University Law School Faculty blog.

The appellate court ruled that cheerleading is not a contact sport for purposes of a Wisconsin statute, which provides that a participant “in a recreational activity that includes physical contact between persons in a sport involving amateur teams” is liable only for causing injury to another participant by acting “recklessly or with intent to cause injury.” Therefore, the statute did not bar Noffke’s negligence claim against Bakke.

The court concluded, according to the Marquette blog, that, although “the risks and the athleticism involved in cheerleading are comparable to those in contact sports,” cheerleading is not a “contact sport” because “it does not involve physical contact between opponents.”

Huh. Seems reasonable enough to us. Law Blog Readers, any thoughts? (And please keep your comments respectful.)

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on December 29, 2008 (boomark / email).