Extreme sports vs. Traditional sports

Motocross (MX or Moto-X), skateboarding, BMX riding and Freestyle Snowboarding are considered extreme sports. Football, Baseball, Soccer, Basketball and Hockey are commonly known as traditional or organized sports.  Originally this installment of Diary of a Moto Mom was meant to be statistical. However, I'm an apples to apples person and frankly the information I gathered is more of an apples to shoes comparison.  So I am going to change it up a bit, I honestly believe that extreme sporting events are no more dangerous then traditional ones.  These are a sampling of my reasons and since I have more hands on experience with MX competitions, I have to assume skateboarding, BMX and freestyle snowboarding and skiing are the same.  Yes, I know what it means to assume, but hear me out, here is my top 5 reasons.

1. Registration process: Both have this requirement
2. Age and abilities are broken down into classes: This is somewhat true for both, however, it is my experience with youth football (different organizations have different requirements) size does not matter.  An 11 year old at 150lbs can line up face to face with an 11 year old weighing 90lbs.  Who do you think will get by who?  Lucky for me, our son Jeremy stands firm and 150lb Goliath kisses dirt.
3. Wambulance on site before/during/after all competitions or games: Extreme sports, ABSOLUTELY; Traditional sports, coaches and officials should be certified in first aid/CPR but not a requirement.
4. Number of trained medical personnel on site before/during/after a competition or game: Extreme sports, more then 5, less then 20.  Traditional sports, 0
5. The average wait time for a Wambulance: Extreme sports, 0 minutes an ambulance is on site for each and every competition.  If someone crashes it is the EMT that decides that riders fate i.e continue to compete or get checked out at the local hospital.  Traditional sports-Dependent on your location to the nearest Ambulance Hub and Fire Station.

As you can see safety is a huge part of the sports my kids love and I didn't even touch on equipment (gear) necessary for each.  One of my favorite quotes is "you know I allow my 5 year old to ride a gas powered dirtbike at excessive rates of speed right?".  It's a great one around the ole quilting circle of Mom's bouncing ideas and asking child rearing advice.  I generally get a chuckle or two, but the Mom still wants to hear what I have to say.  Usually suspect is a "helicopter" or "polar bear" Mom, not that I have a problem with that.  My children are in no way "free range kids" but I'm not up their bottoms either.  Kids have to learn and some of my best lessons were self taught...with some supervision.