Criteria for Emerging Sports

If an activity meets the definition of a sport, then a proposal and 10 supporting letters are submitted to the Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA).  The proposal has to include documentation/supporting information that demonstrates that the sport meets the criteria received by the CWA when assessing the viability of the sport.

The Criteria Addressed in the Proposal Must Include the Following:

• There must be 20 or more varsity teams and/or competitive club teams that currently exist on college campuses in that sport.
  
  
• Other data exists that demonstrates support for the sport.  For example:
  
  
  • Collegiate recreation and intramural sponsorship.
    
    
  • High-school sport sponsorship.
    
    
  • Nonscholastic competitive programs.
    
    
  • Association and organization support.
    
    
  • U.S. Olympic Committee support (e.g., classified as an Olympic sport, National Governing Body support, grants).
    
    
  • Conference interest in sports sponsorship.
    
    
  • Coaches Association support.
    
    
  • Professional sports support.
    
    
• There is a demonstrated understanding that once identified as an emerging sport, all NCAA institutions wishing to sponsor the sport at the varsity level must abide by all NCAA regulations, which include limits on playing and practice seasons, recruiting regulations and student-athlete eligibility.
  
  
• Emerging-sport proposals must include information on general championship rules and format for the sport.
  
  

In addition to the proposal, 10 letters of support must be submitted.  The letters of support must be from 10 member institutions that sponsor or intend to sponsor the sport as an emerging sport and include the signatures of the president and the athletics director of those institutions.  Additionally, the letters must be dated within one year of the submission of the proposal and letters.

Contact Information

The contact for this page is kmorrison@ncaa.org