NCAA so as to add 4 new championships

At the 2026 NCAA Convention within the Washington, D.C., space, acrobatics and tumbling, stunt, Division II bowling and Division III women’s wrestling had been voted to turn out to be NCAA Championships, whereas flag football entered the Emerging Sports for Women program. 

This is the primary time 4 championships have been added at one NCAA Convention, representing the meteoric rise of rising ladies’s sports activities on the NCAA stage.

“We are thrilled to add four new women’s championships to the NCAA. 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,” NCAA President Charlie Baker stated.

What are rising sports activities?

An rising sport is a ladies’s sport acknowledged by the NCAA that’s meant to assist faculties present extra athletics alternatives for ladies and extra sport-sponsorship choices for establishments, whereas serving to that sport obtain NCAA Championship standing.

Since the creation of the Emerging Sports for Women program in 1994, eight sports activities have turn out to be championship sports activities: seashore volleyball, rowing, ice hockey, water polo, bowling, wrestling, stunt and acrobatics and tumbling.

Emerging sports activities by the numbers

• Over 30% of ladies’s championship sports activities have been created via the Emerging Sports for Women program.
• 20% enhance in sponsorship and participation in rising sports activities in 2024-25.
• Nearly 7,000 student-athletes throughout all three divisions competed in rising sports activities in 2024-25.

Overall NCAA progress

• Increase of greater than 15,000 student-athletes throughout all three divisions in 2024-25, in response to the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates database.
• In 2024-25, there have been will increase in participation for:
  • More than 5,500 student-athletes in Division I.
  • Nearly 4,000 student-athletes in Division II.
  • Nearly 6,000 student-athletes in Division III.
• Financially, $4 billion in scholarships had been awarded final yr alone.
  • The NCAA eradicated limits on scholarships for the upcoming seasons, so extra student-athletes may have faculty paid for than ever earlier than.

Learn extra concerning the newly added sports activities beneath:

Acrobatics and tumbling

The fundamentals: Acrobatics and tumbling is a fast-paced, team-based self-discipline through which athletes carry out a collection of synchronized expertise in occasions akin to acrobatics, pyramid, toss, tumbling and group routines. 

Teams compete head-to-head, executing expertise at numerous ranges of issue based mostly on every group’s strengths.

The progress: Acrobatics and tumbling turned an rising sport in August 2020, rapidly rising its NCAA sponsorship from 27 faculties within the 2020-21 tutorial yr to greater than 40 in 2023-24.

Competition format:

• Teams take part in six to 10 meets all year long. Each meet entails two to 3 groups.
• Meets function six occasions, totaling 20 heats, that sometimes span 90 to 120 minutes.
• Skills are scored on issue and execution.
• Start values are listed within the Code of Points and decided by the problem of every talent. Skills are scored on execution and totaled by occasion, just like a observe and discipline meet.

Average roster dimension: 

• Division I: 36 student-athletes.
• Division II: 28 student-athletes.
• Division III: 20 student-athletes.

Championship setup:

• The event options eight groups in a single-elimination format.
• In every of 15 occasion closing heats, 5 people/teams qualify.

Inaugural championship: Spring 2027.

To be taught extra about acrobatics and tumbling, go to thencata.org.

Stunt

The fundamentals: Stunt transforms conventional cheerleading expertise right into a head-to-head, four-quarter format emphasizing athleticism and precision. 

The progress: Stunt’s progress has been speedy throughout the NCAA, crossing the benchmark of 40 faculties in its first yr as an rising sport in all three divisions.

Competition format:

• Games encompass two groups competing all through 4 quarters — companion stunts, pyramids and tosses, jumps and tumbling and group routine.
• At the start of every season, the nationwide governing physique sends out 12 routines for groups to grasp, with 12 routines rolling over from the earlier yr.
  • In competitors, coaches will name out performs, and the opposing group can settle for or move on the play name.
• Teams compete in companion stunts, pyramids, jumps and tumbling.
• Points and scoring are execution-based.
  • The group with the very best execution wins the purpose for that spherical.
  • The group with essentially the most factors on the finish of the sport wins.

Average roster dimension: 

• Division I: 35 student-athletes.
• Division II: 32 student-athletes.
• Division III: 20 student-athletes.

Championship setup:

• Championships are performed via a double-elimination event construction, and video games require solely present gymnasium area.

Inaugural championship: Spring 2027.

To be taught extra about stunt, go to stuntthesport.org. 

Division II bowling

Division II bowling will turn out to be an NCAA championship after representatives authorized the advice this week on the NCAA Convention.

The why: The Division II faculties that sponsor bowling held a powerful desire for competing in and successful a Division II championship, versus a National Collegiate championship. As of the 2023-24 tutorial yr, 38 Division II faculties sponsored bowling, which triggered a evaluate. 

Inaugural championship: Spring 2028.

Division III ladies’s wrestling

Division III ladies’s wrestling will turn out to be an NCAA championship after representatives authorized the advice this week on the 2026 NCAA Convention.

The why: Division III accounts for greater than half of all NCAA faculties sponsoring ladies’s wrestling, with 55 Division III faculties sponsoring the game. A separate championship will present an avenue for Division III student-athletes to compete towards these in comparable packages, in step with the division’s philosophy.  

Until the Division III championship is held, DIII faculties will compete towards Division I and II faculties. The inaugural NCAA ladies’s wrestling championship will likely be held this spring.

Inaugural DIII championship: Spring 2028. 

To be taught extra about ladies’s wrestling, go to themat.com or wrestlelikeagirl.org.
 

Flag soccer

Flag soccer has been added to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program, efficient instantly, after representatives from all three NCAA divisions authorized the advice this week on the 2026 NCAA Convention.

The progress: Flag soccer has been one of many fastest-growing sports activities within the nation on the youth, highschool and collegiate ranges. The sport’s momentum consists of being added as a sport for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.   

By the numbers:

• As of summer season 2025, NCAA sports sponsorship data confirmed that at the least 40 NCAA faculties deliberate to sponsor flag soccer on the varsity stage within the 2025-26 tutorial yr.
• Additional monitoring from sport leaders anticipates as many as 60 faculties may take part this spring. The NCAA expects sponsorship to proceed to extend.

To turn out to be a championship: Flag soccer should attain a minimal of 40 faculties sponsoring the game on the varsity stage — and meet minimal contest and participation necessities (as mirrored within the NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates Database) — to be thought-about for championship standing. 

Next steps: Flag soccer’s speedy addition to this system means faculties sponsoring the game this spring can rely towards the 40-school threshold required to determine a National Collegiate Championship. 

More legislative particulars can be found on this document.