STUNT advances to the final stage for NCAA Emerging Sports for Women Status

NCAA DII and DIII council approve STUNT’s addition ahead of DI consideration in 2022

DALLAS (August 10, 2021) – USA Cheer shares today that the NCAA Division II and III Councils will sponsor legislation to add STUNT as an emerging sport for women in their respective divisions. The legislation will be up for a member vote at the January 2022 NCAA convention. The Division I Council is expected to consider similar legislation at their meeting in October 2021.

“We created STUNT more than 11 years ago to

expand the sport avenues available for student-athletes with cheerleading in their background, while at the same time offering educational institutions additional sport opportunities for the hundreds of thousands of high school cheerleaders in the United States,” said USA Cheer Executive Director Lauri Harris. “We first applied for this recognition nearly 10 years ago and I want to thank the Committee on Women’s Athletics (CWA) along with the DII and DIII Councils for their support and their recognition for how far we’ve come. I look forward to continue the work with our collegiate programs all over the country as we take advantage of this opportunity and continue to grow our sport.”

The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics is charged with identifying and managing progress of emerging sports for women. An emerging sport is a women’s sport recognized by the NCAA that is intended to help schools provide more athletic opportunities for women and more sport-sponsorship options for the institutions, and help that sport achieve NCAA championship status.

“I’m so pleased we were able to take this step and advance STUNT to this elevated status within the NCAA,” said Connor Smith, Director of Athletics at Dallas Baptist University (NCAA DII). “STUNT expands opportunities for student-athletes and the councils’ sponsorship of STUNT will help us take those sporting opportunities to even more young women across the country and showcase some of the most exciting and talented athletes in the world. STUNT has been an exciting and growing new sport on our campus and we are proud to be one of the first in the country to help spearhead this new opportunity for female student-athletes!”

Long time STUNT advocate Sarah Dehring, the Director of Athletics at Alma College shared, “STUNT has been a big part of our athletics department for the past 10 years. I have seen first-hand the impact that it has had here at Alma College and love seeing the expansion of opportunities for female athletes.  I am thrilled to see STUNT taking this next step with the NCAA and am excited to watch it grow even more!”

When the NCAA adopted the recommendations of the Gender Equity Task Force in 1994, one of the recommendations was the creation of the list of emerging sports for women. Nine sports were on that first list. In the past 21 years, some have become championship sports (beach volleyball, rowing, ice hockey, water polo and bowling), while others have been added to or removed from the list.  Bylaws require that emerging sports for women gain championship status (i.e., minimum 40 varsity NCAA programs for individual and team sports; with the exception of Division III requiring only 28 varsity programs for team sports) within 10 years or show steady progress toward that goal to remain on the list. Institutions may use emerging sports to meet minimum sports-sponsorship requirements and, in Divisions I and II, minimum financial aid requirements.

STUNT, one of the fastest growing female sports in the country, removes the crowd-leading element and focuses on the technical and athletic components of cheer, including partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, group jumps and tumbling. These elements are put together in short routines that both teams must perform head-to-head on the floor at the same time. The team that executes the skills best wins the round and the point and determines which routine level will be called next. With four quarters of play – partner stunts, pyramids & tosses, jumps & tumbling, and team routine – STUNT is an exciting sport to play, coach and watch.

About USA Cheer

The USA Federation for Sport Cheering is a not-for profit 501(c)(3) organization that was established in 2007 to serve as the National Governing Body for Sport Cheering in the United States and is recognized by the International Cheer Union. USA Cheer exists to serve the cheer community, including club cheering (all-star), youth recreational cheer, traditional school-based cheer programs, and the growing sport of STUNT.

USA Cheer has three primary objectives: promote safety and safety education for cheer in the United States; help grow and develop interest and participation in cheer throughout the United States; and represent the United States of America in international cheer competitions.