Augustana University Athletics

A: Acrobatics and tumbling teams compete in a standard basketball or volleyball arena with hardwood surface. The competition floor is made up of 13 mats of carpet-bonded foam, which are two inches thick and measure 6 x 42 feet each. 

A: Home meets will be held in the spring semester in the Elmen Center, which will also be used as the team’s practice facility.

A: It is a form fitting numbered jersey and shorts, much like a university volleyball team uniform. A tennis shoe is also worn by all participants.  

A:  Up to 28 student-athletes may be listed on the competition roster for each meet. There are opportunities for student-athletes to compete in a variety of events or to specialize in events. An ideal roster size for an acrobatics and tumbling team ranges from 24-to-45 student-athletes.

A:  Teams are scored on the execution of skills based on predetermined start values in a standardized scoring system (similar to those used in gymnastics). Trained officials evaluate skill execution and apply deductions if technical errors occur. 

A: Acrobatics and tumbling meets draw crowds both from the campus community and the general public. Crowds often include families with girls and young women who are involved or interested in activities using these skill sets, but also include students and others who enjoy the fast pace of meets (usually under 2 hours) and demonstration of strength, agility and teamwork that the acrobatics and tumbling student-athletes demonstrate.

A: The NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics is charged with identifying and managing progress of emerging sports for women.  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.

When the NCAA adopted the recommendations of the Gender Equity Task Force in 1994, one of the recommendations was the creation of the list of emerging sports for women.  Nine sports were on that first list.  In the past 21 years, some have become championship sports (beach volleyball, rowing, ice hockey, water polo and bowling), while others have been added to or removed from the list.  Bylaws require that emerging sports for women gain championship status (i.e., minimum 40 varsity NCAA programs for individual and team sports; with the exception of Division III requiring only 28 varsity programs for team sports) within 10 years or show steady progress toward that goal to remain on the list.  Institutions may use emerging sports to meet minimum sports-sponsorship requirements and, in Divisions I and II, minimum financial aid requirements.