In January 2026, all three NCAA divisions voted to advance STUNT to championship sport status. The first official NCAA STUNT Championship will be held in Spring 2027. For a sport that didn’t exist twenty years ago, it’s one of the fastest trajectories from invention to NCAA championship status on record — and it just put one of the most distinctly women-built sports in college athletics on a national stage.
The athletes who built this sport — the ones who competed when STUNT was still an emerging sport, when championship status was a goal rather than a guarantee — deserve fans who show up for them now. That’s the moment RallyFuel wants to be part of.
Here’s what you need to know about STUNT, the athletes leading it, and how the fan-powered NIL model can support emerging women’s sports as they grow.
Table of Contents
- What STUNT Actually Is
- The Road to NCAA Championship Status
- The 2026 National Championship: Cal Baptist’s Dynasty Continues
- Where STUNT Is Growing
- Why STUNT Matters for Title IX
- How Fans Can Support STUNT Athletes
- What Comes Next
What STUNT Actually Is
STUNT is a head-to-head competition sport derived from the technical and athletic elements of cheerleading — partner stunts, pyramids, basket tosses, group jumps, and tumbling — with the crowd-leading component removed. Two teams perform identical short routines on the floor at the same time, and the team that executes the skills better wins the round and the point.
A STUNT game has four quarters:
- Quarter 1: Partner Stunts
- Quarter 2: Pyramids & Tosses
- Quarter 3: Jumps & Tumbling
- Quarter 4: Team Routine
Teams need a recommended minimum of 16 athletes. The season runs February through early May. It’s governed at the collegiate level by USA Cheer, which created the sport specifically to give universities a Title IX-compliant women’s sport that uses the existing pipeline of more than 500,000 high school cheerleaders nationwide.
The Road to NCAA Championship Status
STUNT’s path through the NCAA has moved unusually fast:
- 2023: NCAA Divisions I and II adopt STUNT as an emerging sport
- 2024: Division III follows
- May 2025: NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics recommends championship status across all divisions
- January 2026: All three NCAA divisions vote at the Convention to advance STUNT to NCAA Championship Status
- Spring 2027: First official NCAA STUNT Championship (USA Cheer hosts through the transition)
STUNT cleared the benchmark of 40 schools meeting minimum contest and participant requirements in its first year as an emerging sport across all three divisions — a threshold most emerging sports take years to hit. It joins a short list of sports that have earned NCAA championship status through the Emerging Sports for Women program: rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003), beach volleyball (2015), and wrestling (2025).
Each of these sports made the same journey STUNT is now finishing — from emerging sport, to championship status, to a permanent place in the women’s college athletics landscape. STUNT’s trajectory has been faster than most, but the destination is the same.
The 2026 National Championship: Cal Baptist’s Dynasty Continues
The 2026 USA Cheer-hosted National Championship at Lipscomb University (April 23-26) was the last under the pre-NCAA-championship era. And it delivered.
Division I: California Baptist University took its sixth consecutive DI national championship, beating Kentucky 27-22 in the final. Cal Baptist trailed 9-8 at halftime before pulling away in the third quarter behind a dominant jumps and tumbling round.
Kentucky finished as the national runner-up for the fourth straight year, capping a program-record 31-4 season. The Wildcats beat Cal Poly 20-12 in the semifinal before falling to Cal Baptist.
Division II: Oklahoma Baptist University won a thriller, edging Jessup 30-29 in the championship game.
Division III: George Fox University took the title with a 25-20 win over Muskingum.
NAIA Division: Hope International University
Club Division: Alma College
Where STUNT Is Growing
STUNT now has more than 80 college programs across NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, plus NAIA and club levels. The geographic concentration tells you something about where the sport has caught on:
- California anchors the West Coast with 11+ programs, including champion Cal Baptist, Cal Poly, UC Davis, Hope International, Jessup, Vanguard, Concordia Irvine, and Fresno Pacific
- Michigan and Ohio form a powerful Midwest cluster with nearly 20 programs combined
- Missouri has emerged as a strong third hub with seven programs
Two upcoming additions are worth flagging:
- Marshall University announced STUNT as its 19th NCAA varsity sport, beginning in 2028
- Kentucky Wesleyan College joins NCAA Division II in 2028 through the Great Midwest Athletic Conference
Big Ten and SEC programs like Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue, Arizona State, Oklahoma State, South Carolina, and Texas currently field STUNT at the club level — which is often a precursor to varsity adoption.
Why STUNT Matters for Title IX
This is the part that most fans miss when they encounter the sport for the first time.
STUNT was created intentionally as a Title IX-compliant women’s sport. Cheerleading itself generally doesn’t qualify under Title IX because of the crowd-leading element and the absence of standardized head-to-head competition. STUNT removes both, which is why it qualifies — and why it gives universities a way to expand women’s athletics participation using the existing high school pipeline.
For schools navigating Title IX participation gaps, STUNT is one of the most cost-effective sports to add. The athlete pipeline is enormous. And the sport is now on a clear path to full NCAA championship status with national visibility.
How Fans Can Support STUNT Athletes
Emerging women’s sports often face a familiar gap: the athletic excellence shows up before the fan infrastructure does. Athletes train year-round, compete at a national level, and build a sport — but the marketing, media coverage, and NIL opportunities that come with established sports take time to follow.
RallyFuel exists to close that gap.
The platform connects fans with college athletes and the schools and collectives that support them. Fans choose the programs they want to back through verified Fuel purchases held by licensed third-party payment processors. If an athlete voluntarily joins a designated program, RallyFuel can offer an NIL Agreement funded by the accumulated Fuel (net of platform fees). If conditions aren’t met — for example, if the athlete selects a different school during the Conditional Period, the period expires without an agreement, the athlete becomes ineligible, or contracted deliverables aren’t performed — fans are automatically refunded through the same payment processor.
For STUNT athletes — many of whom compete at smaller institutions without massive athletic media budgets — fan-powered NIL is a way to translate community enthusiasm into tangible support without taking on financial risk. As STUNT moves toward its first NCAA championship in 2027, RallyFuel is paying close attention to the athletes who built the sport and the programs leading the next wave of growth.
If you’re a STUNT athlete, coach, or program interested in learning more about how fan-powered NIL works, visit our NIL Education Hub or Get the App to see how the platform supports college athletes across emerging women’s sports.
What Comes Next
The 2027 NCAA STUNT Championships are scheduled for April 24-27 in Nashville (NCAA DI/DII/DIII), with the NAIA/Club championships April 17-19 in Bethany, OK. It will be the first time STUNT champions are crowned under the NCAA banner.
The interesting question is whether the sport’s competitive landscape shifts as it gains NCAA prestige. Cal Baptist has owned Division I for six straight years, but the entrance of programs like Marshall and continued growth at Power 4 schools could reshape the top of the sport quickly. The pipeline from high school is deep, and athletic departments are paying attention.
For anyone tracking the next wave of women’s college sports — and for the fans ready to show up for the athletes driving it — STUNT is one to watch.
Q&A
Question: When is the first official NCAA STUNT Championship? Short answer: Spring 2027. All three NCAA divisions voted at the January 2026 NCAA Convention to advance STUNT to championship status. USA Cheer will continue hosting championships through the transition, and the 2027 NCAA DI/DII/DIII championships are scheduled for April 24-27 in Nashville.
Question: Who won the 2026 College STUNT National Championship? Short answer: California Baptist won the Division I title for the sixth straight year, beating Kentucky 27-22. Oklahoma Baptist won DII (over Jessup 30-29), George Fox won DIII (over Muskingum 25-20), Hope International won the NAIA division, and Alma College won the Club division.
Question: How is STUNT different from competitive cheer? Short answer: STUNT removes the crowd-leading element entirely and focuses only on athletic skills — partner stunts, pyramids, tosses, jumps, and tumbling — performed head-to-head against another team in a four-quarter format. Competitive cheer typically involves a single team performing for judges. STUNT is more like a basketball game in structure: two teams, same floor, points awarded per round.
Question: Why does STUNT matter for Title IX? Short answer: STUNT was specifically designed as a Title IX-compliant women’s sport, giving universities a way to expand women’s athletics participation using the existing pool of more than 500,000 U.S. high school cheerleaders. Traditional cheerleading doesn’t qualify under Title IX because of its crowd-leading role and lack of standardized head-to-head competition.
Question: How can fans support STUNT athletes through RallyFuel? Short answer: RallyFuel is a fan-powered NIL platform where fans purchase Conditional NIL Engagement Rights (“Fuel”) for athletes and programs they want to back. Fuel purchases are held by licensed third-party payment processors during the Conditional Period and are automatically refunded if conditions aren’t met. If an athlete voluntarily joins a designated program, RallyFuel can offer an NIL Agreement funded by the accumulated Fuel.
Question: How many colleges play STUNT right now? Short answer: More than 80 programs across NCAA Divisions I, II, and III, plus NAIA and club levels. California, Michigan, and Ohio are the strongest regional hubs. Marshall University and Kentucky Wesleyan College are both adding programs in 2028.
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