Cal Poly Athletics announced the addition of a new Division I sport on Aug. 1, as the university is promoting the stunt team from club to the varsity level this upcoming school year. They will also be looking to add women’s flag football as early as 2027.
The announcement came from recently retired Athletic Director Don Oberhelman, who explained that the addition of potentially two new teams will “provide outstanding opportunities for our athletes to be competitive for national championships from day one.”
Oberhelman mentioned the decision to cut swim and dive on March 7 as well, reiterating that Cal Poly is still “unable to support the programs financially – especially at a level required to be competitive.”
Conversely, he said stunt is a “cost-effective sport model” and has “limited equipment and travel expenses.”
It is unclear at the moment how much the stunt team will cost, as it will depend on how many players they roster as well. The university has made room for “up to 65 roster spots available,” according to Oberhelman.
On the stunt team’s official website, it says their 2026 roster will comprise 29 female student-athletes.
WHAT IS STUNT?: A look inside Cal Poly’s Cheer and Stunt Team
The stunt team has been managed by the athletic department since their inaugural year in 2010, winning the club national championship in 2023 and finishing in second place in 2022 and 2024.
They’ve been one of the best club programs in the country, qualifying for the national championship nine times since their first year and doing so again last year with a 3rd place seeding.
The sport is a head-to-head competition between two teams, focusing on the athletic and technical skills of cheerleading without the crowd-leading parts seen on the sidelines of a football game.
It’s structured into four quarters, with skill based routines in each one. There are partner stunts, pyramids and tosses, jumps and tumbling and a team routine as well.
Cal Poly will be the seventh varsity stunt program in California, and one of over 80 varsity programs nationwide. California Baptist University is the only other varsity program in California at the Division I level.
After being approved as an emerging sport in 2023, stunt was recommended for NCAA Championship status in May and will be getting its first NCAA Championship in 2027.
Cal Poly Athletics cuts swim and dive, rejects $9 million fundraising effort
After eliminating the swim and dive program on March 7, Cal Poly’s swimmers were originally told fundraising would not be an option. After a few weeks of pushback, the team was given a goal of $25 million by the athletic department, which was eventually lowered to $15 million with an end date of June 15.
Student-athletes, parents, alumni and supporters rallied together in the weeks following to raise as much as they could, but the $9 million they raised was deemed as “well short of the goal.”
The university is also facing Title IX allegations from two advocacy groups for women in sports, as the swim and dive team had 29 female student-athletes rostered.
Although the number of male student-athletes cut was equivalent, the university’s decision to cut the program had a higher impact on the percentage of total female athletes, as there are less overall female student-athletes.
According to a roster count done from the Cal Poly athletics website in the 2024-25 year, the university rostered 341 male student-athletes and 220 women student-athletes, including swimming. According to the count, women made up 39.2% of athletes at Cal Poly.
Cal Poly was informed of the allegations in a letter in late June, stating they are violating three forms of the federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in schools – not providing equal participation opportunities, equal athletic scholarships, or equal treatment and benefits. SwimSwam previously reported on this letter in which a group of students claimed Title IX non-compliance.
The letter, which was sent by non-profit legal advocacy organization Champion Women and law firm Equity IX, calls for immediate reinstatement of the women’s swim and dive team and to then elevate their scholarships.
In response to the Title IX allegations, the university said that they are “actively developing and planning specific initiatives” to increase women’s participation at the Division I level. Both stunt and women’s flag football are for female student-athletes.
The CEO of Champion Women Nancy Hogshead and founder of Equity IX Leigh Ernst Friestedt, who both signed the letter, said Cal Poly would have needed to add 141 female student-athletes in order to be Title IX compliant before the department cut the swim and dive program.
Oberhelman, who retired on June 9 and is the acting director until his replacement is found, said that the athletic department has “too many mouths to feed.” He explained how “sports were beginning to suffer,” which is what led to the decision to eliminate the swim and dive program.
Prior to the promotion of stunt, he estimated that with the elimination of swim and dive – which cut 58 student-athletes – and the eventual roster caps, there would be around 100 fewer student-athletes.
The swim and dive program is continuing their push for reinstatement through Champion Women and Equity IX alleging that Cal Poly is still in violation of Title IX, even with the addition of stunt at the varsity level.