Stunt Receives NCAA Championship Status
As of Jan. 16, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) officially recognized stunt as a championship sport. After steadily growing in popularity over the past couple years, the sport’s first NCAA championship is set to be held in Spring 2027.
Photo provided by Coach Destiny Duhon (Jan 2026)
On the creation of stunt as a sport, Centenary Assistant Coach Destiny Duhon said, “Cheer will never be recognized as a NCAA sport because there's too many different variances of how cheer is in different areas.” To remedy this, stunt brings the skills and techniques associated with Cheer and transfers them to a head-on-head competition. All teams learn the same routines, then in competition, they perform them across from one another. The game is played in four quarters, each quarter focusing on some facet originally seen in Cheer. The team that performs the routine best in that quarter receives the point.
While the sport had previously garnered substantial support on the West Coast, Texas, and other sporadic parts of the country, Centenary was the first school to bring stunt to the collegiate level in Louisiana. This is largely due to Head Coach Kaylee King’s support and advocacy for the sport.
On bringing it to Centenary, Coach King said, “I brought it to our athletic director because it was gaining emerging sport status with the NCAA and it would give our athletes a chance to be officially considered athletes.” Athletic Director David Orr and President Dr. Holoman quickly threw their support behind the sport.
The speed that stunt went from NCAA emerging sport status to championship status is a testament to its rapid growth. Coach King added, “A sport can sit in emerging sports status for more than a year, but it only took stunt a year to gain the rest of the institutions that they needed.” Division I school McNeese State University in Lake Charles, Louisiana was the second Louisiana school to bring stunt to the collegiate level.
Originally from Abbeville, Louisiana, Trihnity Campbell had never heard of stunt before coming to Centenary. She had already settled into the Cheer team when she first heard about the sport from Coach King. After doing a little more research, and from a little more convincing from Coach King, Campbell excitedly joined the team.
For Campbell, the NCAA recognition of stunt is finally an acknowledgement of the work Cheer athletes have been putting in for years. Campbell said, “It just makes all of those tears, the blood, the sweat, just so worth it. Now we know there's something to work towards and other people will be able to recognize that as well.”
The stunt team is set to travel to Lake Charles on Feb. 1 to compete in a tournament held by McNeese University. On Feb. 8, Muskigum University and McNeese University will be coming to the Gold Dome, giving students their first at home exposure to the sport. Cambell hopes everyone will come out, saying, “pack the stands, 'cause we work really, really hard.”
