Athletics Veritas is a weekly series aimed at helping higher education executives, faculty, and other stakeholders stay tuned in on trending national issues impacting college athletics, especially NCAA Division I. Athletics Veritas is created by senior DI athletic administrators around the nation.
Term-in-Ology: Division I’s Newest Sport
In 2020, Division I added women's acrobatics and tumbling as an emerging sport for women. Emerging sports for women may be used for NCAA minimum sport sponsorship and financial aid that are countable toward the NCAA revenue distribution formula.
In approving the sport for the DI level, the NCAA noted its potential for growth as well as the existing support from the sport's national governing body. The acrobatics and tumbling leadership demonstrated and articulated how the experience of an acrobatics and tumbling student-athlete is comparable to the experience of an NCAA sport student-athlete and how acrobatics and tumbling student-athletes are fully integrated into athletics departments. Further, the existing organizational structure and bylaws support efforts to integrate NCAA values and legislation into the sport's current operations.
Acrobatics and tumbling is structured as a team sport; however due to the safety and well-being of student-athletes the length of the playing season has been extended to 144-days. Allowing the extended time permits safe skill progression as student-athletes train for competition. Finally, there is a commitment at the collegiate level to provide robust participation opportunities during the regular season and postseason, including the national championship.
Adding Women’s Acrobatics and Tumbling included adding NCAA rules related to athletics personnel, amateurism, recruiting, financial aid, playing and practice seasons and membership, as specified. In particular, the coaching limit for acrobatics and tumbling is 3 coaches and the equivalency scholarship maximum is 14 equivalency scholarships.
Athletics Veritas is presented for information purposes only and should not be considered advice or counsel on NCAA compliance matters. For guidance on NCAA rules and processes, always consult your university’s athletics compliance office, conference office, and/or the NCAA.
