Shreveport - The Committee on Women's Athletics has officially recommended that all three divisions of the NCAA governance structure add STUNT as an NCAA emerging sport.

Centenary athletics announced the addition of STUNT in March as the sport will begin in the fall of 2021 and is the first collegiate program in the State of Louisiana.

An emerging sport is 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 the institutions, and also help that sport achieve NCAA championship status.

"What a great day this is for student-athletes that want to continue this aspect of cheerleading at the collegiate level in the NCAA," said Ellen Reid, Centenary Head Competitive Cheer, Dance, and STUNT Coach.

"This sport has taken off very fast, and is continuing to grow. Centenary College has a major advantage taking on this new emerging sport as the first higher education institution to do so in the state of Louisiana."

USA Cheer created STUNT as an opportunity for colleges, universities and high schools to meet the strict Title IX requirements of a sport. With more than 500,000 high school cheerleaders, STUNT expands participation opportunities for young women by providing an avenue for female athletes to use their cheerleading background in a new format.

STUNT, according to USACheer.org, is "One of the fastest growing female sports in the country, and removes the crowd-leading element and focuses on the technical and athletic components of cheer, including partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, group jumps and tumbling. These elements are put together in short routines that both teams must perform head-to-head on the floor at the same time. The team that executes the skills best wins the round and the point, and has the opportunity to determine which routine level will be called next. With four quarters of play – partner stunts, pyramids & tosses, jumps & tumbling, and team routine – STUNT is an exciting sport to play, coach and watch.

#GoCentenary #CTheOpportunity