April 25, 2025/Midnight
Originally published in print April 14, 2025
Erie, Pa.-– The sports industry within the past five years has seen immense growth and recognition for women’s athletics. This includes breaking viewership records time and time again, launching the careers of countless female athletes, and bringing both collegiate and professional women’s sports to a grander stage.
Acrobatics and Tumbling is an NCAA emerging sport. The sport is underneath the umbrella of gymnastics, pulling skill and format inspiration from all–star cheerleading, power tumbling, and artistic/acrobatic gymnastics. The NCAA defines an emerging sport as “– a women’s sport recognized by the NCAA that is intended to help schools provide more athletics opportunities for women and more sport–sponsorship options for institutions, while helping that sport achieve NCAA championship status” (NCAA, 2025). The sport has been circulating the collegiate circuit for nine years, officially hitting the requirements of being named an emerging sport in 2021.
Once the sport obtains 50 competing teams, regardless of division, the sport will follow typical NCAA championship format (essentially splitting by each division). As a former A&T athlete, as exciting as this development is for the sport, it’s sad to see that the level of competition as well as the built–in rivalries we have created will be wearing away. Since the conception of the sport, any team could take the national championship title, regardless of division. Some of the most prominent and legacy–built programs we still have today are at division level II or small division I. The Gannon Golden Knights have clashed against top teams like Baylor, Oregon, and Quinnipiac, all division I; even facing off against Baylor twice in three years for the NCATA title game.
The sport pushing past emerging status proves the rapidly growing phenomenon: everyone watches women’s sports. The sport provides an opportunity to thousands of female athletes across the nation, as well as internationally to continue their passion and careers at the next level.
Even after official sport status, A&T continues to find new homes at universities looking to expand within their athletic department. This means young girls currently starting gymnastics or cheer will have even more options and opportunities after their high school careers than the athletes before them.
The need for more athletic opportunities has always been present, the opportunity to skyrocket hardworking, deserving athletes is here. The sport may be unknown or brand new to many now but will leave a lasting impact on college athletics in the years to come.
