Acrobatics and tumbling, which merges dance, gymnastics, and cheerleading, has rapidly gained popularity as a college sport. It emerged as a sport in 2020 and currently has more than 40 schools participating. Earlier this month, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics voted to recommend that Divisions I, II, and III sponsor legislation to establish a National Collegiate Championship.
In the New York area, Manhattan College will begin competing in the 2025-2026 academic year, which Iona University and Long Island University (LIU) have competed in the past two seasons.
“For so many of us who started this as young athletes and are current coaches now, it’s amazing to see,” said Iona coach Jacquie Eshleman. An early competitor in the sport at the University of Oregon, then known as stunts and gymnastics, she recalled the impact of becoming a varsity sport, which involved access to athletic department resources. She is excited to see how NCAA championship status will impact today’s student-athletes.
“It’s something we’ve been fighting for, for a really long time, and advocating for all of the young women in this country that love to flip, tumble, and dance,” said Eshleman. “I feel blessed to have been a part of the sport on the very first team…and now being one of the people that is going to see it through.”
A Division I acrobatics and tumbling team typically has about 40 to 50 student-athletes. A game-day roster can be a maximum of 28. At present, the maximum number of scholarships is 14, which can be divided across the roster.
“We are a team sport, so we have six events — compulsory, acro, pyramid, toss, tumbling, and team routine,” Eshleman said. “[The tumbling] event has synchronized passes as well as solo passes.”
Shelby Armstrong, the inaugural coach of LIU’s acrobatics and tumbling team, also attended the University of Oregon. As a student-athlete, Armstrong just wanted to compete.
“I wanted to showcase my skills and be judged on the execution of them,” said Armstrong. “Towards the end of college, I thought I wanted to coach the sport. I started at the club level. Then I built a Division II program. That’s when I started to really understand what was required of us to get the NCAA status. It’s been a lot of years in the making. … I’m showing my athletes that this is bigger than our wins and losses. This is history that we’re creating.”