New AAA rule

[heathwaldrop]

This is kind of interesting. I got notification on Monday evening that the Arkansas Activities Association, in keeping with new national guidelines, is outlawing tosses for cheerleaders on "unyielding" surfaces.

That obviously includes basketball but I think that it probably includes most older track surfaces as well, such as the one at CHS. I would describe asphalt and concrete as being "unyielding."

I'm sure that this is a knee-jerk reaction to that well-publicized fall from the top of a pyramid by that collegiate cheerleader a few weeks ago. What's stupid is that she wasn't being tossed, but it is tosses that are being tossed out.

[Outlaw85]

Not to be s smart a$$ but the surface on the track isn't asphalt. It may feel like it now but it is actually a rubber based compound that was quite soft to walk on in the years after it was laid.

[heathwaldrop]

outlaw67 said:

Not to be s smart a$$ but the surface on the track isn't asphalt. It may feel like it now but it is actually a rubber based compound that was quite soft to walk on in the years after it was laid.

It's asphalt now. When it was first laid, the top surface was an asphalt-rubber mixture, and the base was asphalt over concrete. None of that top surface is left anymore.

I did a story on the track about five years ago, did some research into its history, compared types of surfaces, etc. etc.

Even when it was new, it wasn't made of the type of compound that the newest and most high-tech outdoor tracks are made of. (Of course it wouldn't be, since the surface was laid close to 20 years ago.) The track at Dumas, for instance, is nearly 100 percent rubber and feels almost like walking on a sponge. It's built so that you still can run on it in a driving rainstorm. The one at El Dorado is close to that but not quite so rubbery. The one at Hot Springs, where the Class AAAA meet has been held for the last several years, is not as soft as those other two.

[bruth]

outlaw67 said:

Not to be s smart a$$ but the surface on the track isn't asphalt. It may feel like it now but it is actually a rubber based compound that was quite soft to walk on in the years after it was laid.

Maybe in the years it was laid, but certainly not now. Personally I applaud this rule. A teacher told me that they cring everytime they see a spirit group doing tosses or pyramids. Even on the good surfaces (and Crossett's is not), there is a great danger of neck and back injury.

[heathwaldrop]

bruth said:

A teacher told me that they cring everytime they see a spirit group doing tosses or pyramids. Even on the good surfaces (and Crossett's is not), there is a great danger of neck and back injury.

That's one reason why I cant' understand why they just didnt' ban the tosses 100 percent. If you get dropped from a height of 10 or 12 feet onto your back or head, I don't think it's going to make a difference if you're landing on grass or concrete or wood or whatever. A giant feather pillow, maybe.

[jmac]

I'm the teacher bruth is talking about. I've told cheerleaders that I am afraid for them.