Dubuque- You might see cheerleaders dragging a mat on to the gym floor this winter while cheering on the basketball team.
It's part of a new rule to protect cheerleaders from serious harm. Studies show cheerleading is the number one cause of injury in young female athletes.

16-year-old Vanessa Wismeier is used to getting tossed around, thrown high up in the air, and she's taken a tumble or two.
Wismeier said, “I actually sprained both my ankles once, but I consider that to not be very much considering all the injuries that can happen with broken legs and arms."

Data from the National Center for Sports Injury Research shows Cheerleading has become the leading cause of catastrophic injury in young women.
That's one of the reasons Hempstead High School Coach Jenny Kress demands safety.

Kress said, "We go through the basic gymnastics stretches and cheerleading stretches set forth by the Iowa Athletic Association."

The team starts each practice with a one mile jog and ends with weight-training. When it comes to the stunts, Kress says they start out slow, every single day. All to avoid injury.

Kress said "I know that when it does happen that we took every safety precaution possible and then it does become just and accident."

On a rubber track anything goes, but if the squad is on a hard gym floor a few national rule requires they use a mat for these more advanced stunts.

Wismeier said, "I trust all of my teammates. I trust them with my life."

Trust that’s earned from hours and hours of practice.

Kress says the new mat rule applies to all high school teams. But a mat is only necessary for specific stunts.

Read more online atwww.nfhs.org.