Administrators and Coaches from 16 Universities represented at first STUNT event.
STUNT to apply for Emerging Sport Status in June 2011.
Memphis, Tenn. (December) – The first official exhibition of the newly developed sport, STUNT, took place at Methodist University in Fayetteville, North Carolina on Sunday December 13. Participating in the exhibition game were the cheer team from Methodist University and the club cheer team from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Representatives were on hand from 16 of the 23 universities that have agreed to participate in STUNT in the spring of 2011 to introduce and demonstrate the new competition format. They were also in attendance for the training session on Saturday, which reviewed the guidelines of the game format, performance requirements and judging.
After the exhibition, everyone involved left with a better understanding of the competition format and the areas that need to be fine-tuned,” says Bill Boggs, Director of STUNT. “Overall, it was an extremely successful training exercise from all perspectives, from coach to participant to operational.”
“It was a milestone moment to host the first STUNT exhibition,” said Melissa Hay, coach of the Methodist University team. “Methodist is excited to be a part of this landmark in cheer history. STUNT offers teams the chance to compete at a high level using their skills and strategy in a new, exciting way.”
Bob McEvoy, Athletic Director for Methodist, agreed. “Female athletes will have another platform in which to showcase the amazing athleticism that they have developed from traditional cheerleading. Whenever more options are available to all student athletes, the university benefits by having a more engaged student body.”
Boggs also noted that one of the benefits of STUNT is that a broad spectrum of teams can be competitive, regardless of school size. “We had a Division III team competing against a Division I team, and it was a fair game that allowed coaches to employ strategy every step of the way.”
For more information on STUNT, visit http://usacheer.net.
About USA Cheer
The USA Federation for Sport Cheering is a not-for profit organization and is the national governing body for all disciplines of cheerleading. USA Cheer exists to serve the entire cheer community, including club cheering (All Star), traditional school based cheer programs and the new sport of “STUNT.” USA Cheer has three primary objectives: help grow and develop interest and participation in Cheer throughout the United States; promote safety and safety education for cheer in the United States; and represent the United States of America in international cheer competitions.
Description of STUNT
Each STUNT game will comprise four quarters in the following categories: Partner Stunts, Jumps and Group Tumbling, Tosses and Pyramids, and Team Routine. Within each quarter, teams will perform skill sequences of varying levels of difficulty, technical execution and synchronization. Anyone who follows sports will be able to follow Stunt. Teams compete simultaneously, and the head-to-head format simplifies the scoring process, allowing fans to track the results of the competition as each round is completed. Because of the new format, teams will have records and national rankings, which will determine their post season play, much like other sports. In addition, post season play can be tracked by the fans, much like “March Madness.” For more information on STUNT, visit http://usacheer.net.
About NCAA Emerging Sport Status
NCAA Emerging Sport Status is a sport recognized by the NCAA that is intended to provide additional athletics opportunities to female student-athletes. To qualify, a sport must, among other things, involve physical exertion with the purpose of competition within a collegiate structure, have standardized rules with a scoring system ratified by a governing body and have regularly scheduled competitions.
About Title IX
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions where the federal government provides financial assistance.