The NCAA approved four new championships and added flag football to its Emerging Sports for Women program at its recent 2026 Convention, marking the largest single expansion of women's competitive opportunities in the organization's history.
Acrobatics and tumbling, stunt, Division II bowling and Division III women's wrestling will become NCAA championships, while flag football gained immediate emerging sport status. This represents the first time four championships have been added at one NCAA Convention.
"We are thrilled to add four new women's championships to the NCAA," NCAA President Charlie Baker said. "This moment reflects the growth of college sports, as schools continue to provide a record number of scholarships and opportunities across the NCAA."
The additions come as NCAA membership has grown by more than 15,000 student-athletes across all three divisions in 2024-25, according to NCAA data. The organization awarded $4 billion in scholarships last year and recently eliminated limits on scholarships for upcoming seasons.
Acrobatics and tumbling and stunt will hold their inaugural championships in spring 2027. Division II bowling and Division III women's wrestling championships will begin in spring 2028.
Acrobatics and tumbling became an emerging sport in August 2020 and quickly grew from 27 schools to more than 40 by 2023-24. The sport features synchronized skills in events including acrobatics, pyramids, tosses, tumbling and team routines, with teams competing head-to-head.
Stunt, which transforms traditional cheerleading skills into a four-quarter competition format, crossed the 40-school threshold in its first year as an emerging sport across all three divisions. Teams compete in partner stunts, pyramids, jumps, tumbling and team routines.
Division II bowling's elevation to championship status responds to member institutions' preference for competing within their division rather than in National Collegiate championships. As of 2023-24, 38 Division II schools sponsored bowling.
Division III accounts for more than half of NCAA schools sponsoring women's wrestling, with 55 institutions offering the sport. The separate championship will allow Division III student-athletes to compete against similar programs. Until the Division III championship begins, those schools will continue competing in the inaugural NCAA women's wrestling championship this spring.
The Emerging Sports for Women program, created in 1994, has now produced eight championship sports: beach volleyball, rowing, ice hockey, water polo, bowling, wrestling, stunt and acrobatics and tumbling. More than 30% of women's championship sports have been created through the program.
Nearly 7,000 student-athletes across all three divisions competed in emerging sports in 2024-25, representing a 20% increase in sponsorship and participation from the previous year.
Flag football's immediate addition to the emerging sports program allows schools sponsoring the sport this spring to count toward the 40-school threshold required for championship status.
NCAA sports sponsorship data from summer 2025 showed at least 40 schools planned to sponsor flag football at the varsity level in 2025-26, with sport leaders anticipating as many as 60 schools could participate this spring.
The sport has experienced rapid growth at youth, high school and collegiate levels and will be included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
