Acrobatics & Tumbling Recommended for NCAA Championship Status
5/15/2025 3:00:00 PM | Acrobatics & Tumbling
If legislation is approved at 2026 Convention, first NCAA Championship could be April 2027
WACO, Texas – The sport of Acrobatics & Tumbling made great progress in its quest for NCAA Championship Status, with the NCAA announcing Thursday that the Committee on Women's Athletics voted to recommend that all three divisions sponsor legislation to establish a National Collegiate Championship for Acrobatics & Tumbling.
The recommendation is contingent on official confirmation of the sport's sponsorship at the NCAA Convention in January 2026, along with participation numbers for the spring of 2025 being analyzed which will occur this summer.
If legislation passes, the inaugural NCAA Championship for Acrobatics & Tumbling could take place in spring 2027.
From the NCAA: "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."
The first six institutions of the NCATA – Azusa Pacific, Baylor, Fairmont State, Maryland, Oregon and Quinnipiac – began to offer the sport in 2009, with the first meet held in February 2010. The first NCATA Championship was held in 2011 at Oregon.
Acrobatics & Tumbling became an Emerging Sport in August of 2020, effectively making it an NCAA Sport, and had its sponsorship numbers in the NCAA skyrocket from 27 schools in the 2020-21 academic year to more than 40 in 2023-24. Over 1,100 student-athletes were projected to compete for an A&T team this 2024-25 season, with at least 47 institutions sponsoring the sport as a member of the NCATA and nine engaging in a recruiting year. There were seven first-year programs competing this season.
After just five years as an NCAA sport, the Acrobatics & Tumbling community is looking toward having its championship sponsored by the NCAA, with a trophy being awarded similar to the other 90 NCAA championship sports.
"The advancement of acrobatics and tumbling toward National Collegiate Championship status is a powerful step forward for women's sports," said Ragean Hill, chair of the Committee on Women's Athletics and executive associate athletics director/senior woman administrator at Charlotte. "This discipline not only showcases athleticism and teamwork at the highest level but also reflects the continued commitment to expanding opportunities for female student-athletes across the country."
Following the recommendation of the CWA, the projected timeline to add an A&T championship is outlined below from the NCAA.
"The acrobatics and tumbling community is resilient, passionate and remains focused on our goal of creating opportunities for women to have the life-changing experience of being a collegiate student-athlete," said Janell Cook, executive director of the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association. "Today, I am overwhelmed thinking of the group of coaches and administrators who took this leap of faith to create a new sport, our member institutions who have committed to adding new opportunities, and most of all, the coaches and student-athletes who have participated in and grown the sport each year."
According to the NCATA, there are student-athletes participating in A&T from 46 U.S. states and at least nine international countries on rosters.
About Acrobatics & Tumbling
Acrobatics & 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 (NCATA) and draws participants from gymnastics, cheerleading, diving and other strength-based sports.
The recommendation is contingent on official confirmation of the sport's sponsorship at the NCAA Convention in January 2026, along with participation numbers for the spring of 2025 being analyzed which will occur this summer.
If legislation passes, the inaugural NCAA Championship for Acrobatics & Tumbling could take place in spring 2027.
From the NCAA: "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."
The first six institutions of the NCATA – Azusa Pacific, Baylor, Fairmont State, Maryland, Oregon and Quinnipiac – began to offer the sport in 2009, with the first meet held in February 2010. The first NCATA Championship was held in 2011 at Oregon.
Acrobatics & Tumbling became an Emerging Sport in August of 2020, effectively making it an NCAA Sport, and had its sponsorship numbers in the NCAA skyrocket from 27 schools in the 2020-21 academic year to more than 40 in 2023-24. Over 1,100 student-athletes were projected to compete for an A&T team this 2024-25 season, with at least 47 institutions sponsoring the sport as a member of the NCATA and nine engaging in a recruiting year. There were seven first-year programs competing this season.
After just five years as an NCAA sport, the Acrobatics & Tumbling community is looking toward having its championship sponsored by the NCAA, with a trophy being awarded similar to the other 90 NCAA championship sports.
"The advancement of acrobatics and tumbling toward National Collegiate Championship status is a powerful step forward for women's sports," said Ragean Hill, chair of the Committee on Women's Athletics and executive associate athletics director/senior woman administrator at Charlotte. "This discipline not only showcases athleticism and teamwork at the highest level but also reflects the continued commitment to expanding opportunities for female student-athletes across the country."
Following the recommendation of the CWA, the projected timeline to add an A&T championship is outlined below from the NCAA.
- 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.
"The acrobatics and tumbling community is resilient, passionate and remains focused on our goal of creating opportunities for women to have the life-changing experience of being a collegiate student-athlete," said Janell Cook, executive director of the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association. "Today, I am overwhelmed thinking of the group of coaches and administrators who took this leap of faith to create a new sport, our member institutions who have committed to adding new opportunities, and most of all, the coaches and student-athletes who have participated in and grown the sport each year."
According to the NCATA, there are student-athletes participating in A&T from 46 U.S. states and at least nine international countries on rosters.
About Acrobatics & Tumbling
Acrobatics & 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 (NCATA) and draws participants from gymnastics, cheerleading, diving and other strength-based sports.
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