NCAA Recommends Acrobatics and Tumbling, Stunt for Championship Status

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA (May 17, 2025) – Acrobatics and tumbling and stunt made significant progress toward NCAA championship status, with their first NCAA championships potentially taking place in spring 2027.

The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics voted to recommend that all three divisions sponsor legislation to establish a National Collegiate Championship in acrobatics and tumbling and stunt. The recommendations are contingent on official confirmation of the sport’s sponsorship and participation numbers for spring 2025 competition, which will occur over the summer.

Before the Committee on Women’s Athletics can recommend a sport for NCAA championship status, at least 40 schools must sponsor it at the varsity level and meet the sport’s minimum competition and participant requirements. The committee oversees the Emerging Sports for Women program, which aims to grow participation and competitive opportunities for women’s sports across the NCAA.

Acrobatics and tumbling, which became an emerging sport in August 2020, quickly grew its NCAA sponsorship from 27 schools in the 2020-21 academic year to more than 40 in 2023-24. Stunt’s growth has been rapid across the NCAA, crossing the benchmark of 40 schools meeting minimum contest and participant requirements in its first year as an emerging sport in all three divisions. It joined the emerging sports program in 2023 in Divisions I and II, while Division III added it in 2024.  

Acrobatics and tumbling is a fast-paced, team-based discipline in which athletes perform a series of synchronized skills in events such as acrobatics, pyramid, toss, tumbling and team routines. Meets feature six events and typically span 90 to 120 minutes, with skills scored on difficulty and execution. The sport is currently governed by the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association and draws participants from gymnastics, cheerleading, diving and other strength-based sports.

At least 48 schools reported they planned to sponsor acrobatics and tumbling during the 2024-25 academic year. This represents continued growth from the 2023-24 academic year, which included more than 1,100 acrobatics and tumbling student-athletes across the NCAA. If all three divisions sponsor and approve legislation to create a National Collegiate Championship, acrobatics and tumbling student-athletes across all divisions would compete at the championship.

Following the committee’s recommendation, the projected timeline to add an acrobatics and tumbling championship is:

• Each division is expected to review the recommendation and sponsor a proposal by its respective 2025-26 legislative cycle deadline.
• If sponsored, the divisions are expected to vote on the proposals during the 2026 NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C.
• The recommendation also includes establishing an NCAA Acrobatics and Tumbling Committee, which would begin its work in January 2026, to allow time to prepare for a championship in spring 2027.
• If adopted on that timeline, the first acrobatics and tumbling championship would be held in spring 2027.

Stunt transforms traditional cheerleading skills into a head-to-head, four-quarter format emphasizing athleticism and precision. Teams compete in partner stunts, pyramids, jumps and tumbling, with points awarded based on execution. Championships are conducted through a double-elimination tournament structure, and games require only existing gymnasium space. The sport is currently governed at the collegiate level by USA Cheer and continues to grow through robust high school and club pipelines. 

If all three divisions sponsor and approve legislation to create a National Collegiate Championship, stunt student-athletes across all divisions would compete at the championship.  

Following the committee’s recommendation, here is the projected timeline to add a stunt championship: 

• Each division is expected to review the recommendation and sponsor a proposal by its respective 2025-26 legislative cycle deadline. 
• If sponsored, the divisions are expected to vote on the proposals in January during the 2026 NCAA Convention in Washington, D.C. 
• The recommendation also includes establishing an NCAA Stunt Committee, which would begin its work in January 2026, to allow time to prepare for a championship in spring 2027. 
• If adopted on that timeline, the first stunt championship would be held in spring 2027.

Additionally, before a National Collegiate Championship can be established, funding must be approved by the appropriate financial oversight committees. If approved, acrobatics and tumbling and stunt would join the following sports that have earned NCAA championship status through the Emerging Sports for Women program: rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003), beach volleyball (2015) and wrestling (2025). In 2023-24, emerging sports accounted for over 5,000 participation opportunities for student-athletes based on NCAA sports sponsorship and participation rates data, an increase of over 30% from 2022-23.