Four Sports Gain NCAA Championship Status

Four sports — acrobatics and tumbling; stunt; Division II bowling; and Division III women’s wrestling — were voted to become NCAA championships at this year’s NCAA convention near Washington, D.C., the first time that many championships have been added at a single convention. The first two sports will hold their inaugural championship in the spring of 2027, while the latter two will do so in 2028.

“We are thrilled to add four new women’s championships to the NCAA,” said NCAA President Charlie Baker. “This moment reflects the growth of college sports, as schools continue to provide a record number of scholarships and opportunities across the NCAA. By expanding championship opportunities, we celebrate the remarkable momentum of women’s sports, ensuring more student-athletes have the chance to compete for national titles, represent their institutions and inspire future generations.”

Also at the convention, flag football was voted into the Emerging Sports for Women program, which was created in 1994 to help schools offer additional athletics opportunities for women and increase the number if sport-sponsorship options for schools.

Eight sports that were part of the program have since become championship sports, including stunt, and acrobatics and tumbling.

According to the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates database, there was an increase of more than 15,000 student-athletes at Divisions I, II and III in the 2024–2025 school year.

Acrobatics and tumbling became an emerging sport in August 2020. “This is the goal of the program, to create these college sports and allow it to flourish and impact their lives in the same way that sports like football, basketball, softball and volleyball do for those athletes,” said Mariah Polk, who played the sport at Baylor. “This is going to open the door even more for the opportunity for the sport to grow.”

Stunt, which takes traditional cheerleading skills and puts them in a four-quarter format, will have a double-elimination championship structure. The sport crossed the benchmark of 40 schools in its first year as an emerging sport in all three divisions.

“Stunt was created to give female athletes a legitimate, competitive pathway at the collegiate level — one rooted in strategy, objectivity and opportunity,” said Lauri Harris, executive director of USA Cheer. “Advancing to NCAA Championship status validates that vision and the thousands of athletes, coaches, officials and institutions who helped build this sport.”

Thirty-eight Division II schools sponsor bowling, which triggered a review of its championship aspirations.

Flag football will join the Emerging Sports for Women program effective immediately. At least 40 schools have plans for a varsity-level version of the sport in this academic year, the minimum number required for a sport to establish a national collegiate championship. Flag football will be part of the Olympics for the first time in Los Angeles in 2028.

“The NCAA’s decision to add flag football as an emerging sport validates years of momentum driven by athletes, coaches and community programs nationwide,” said Izell Reese, CEO of RCX Sports and president of the RCX Sports Foundation. “It underscores both the growth of women’s flag football and the power of intentional investment to unlock opportunity.