(This story first published on dyusaints.com)
Vice President for Athletics and Planning Ona Halladay of D'Youville has announced the addition of acrobatics and tumbling and has named Sophie Binsol the team's first head coach. Acrobatics and tumbling will be the 20th sponsored athletic program by D'Youville come the 2025-26 academic year.
"Acrobatics and tumbling is a rapidly growing sport that will be a great compliment to the programs we offer," said Vice President for Athletics and Planning Ona Halladay. "We also value the growth of collegiate women's sports and believe this will be another great success like we have seen with women's wrestling."
D'Youville will be the 55th institution to sponsor acrobatics and tumbling, and first NCAA Division II New York school to add the sport. Acrobatics and tumbling is an emerging NCAA sport for women on the Division I, II, and III levels. DYU will be apart of the National Collegiate Acrobatics and Tumbling Association (NCATA), the governing body for the sport. There are currently 30 NCAA Division II institutions that sponsor acrobatics and tumbling after the addition of D'Youville.
"We love to be leaders in the growth of athletic opportunities for those in New York state but also around the world," Halladay said about being the first NCAA DII institution in New York adding acrobatics and tumbling.
"The NCATA is thrilled to welcome D'Youville University to the Acrobatics and Tumbling community," Janell Cook, the Executive Director of the NCATA. "With recent program additions and current NCATA members in the area, young women who train in the skill set will have ample opportunities to compete in the city of Buffalo. D'Youville's history of support for their athletics programs will no doubt attract student-athletes from across the country and those who would like to stay close to home."
Acrobatics and tumbling is the evolution of different forms of gymnastics. The women-only sport involves tumbling, tosses, acrobatic lifts, and pyramids. Competitors in this sport demonstrates significant power, flexibility, and balance to their skill set. Competitors are primarily recruited from various disciplines of gymnastics and cheerleading to perform in acrobatics and tumbling, as well as multi-sport athletes, divers, and weightlifters.
Teams participate in head-to-head competition, in meets of two to three teams. A meet consists of six events, with a total of twenty heats, Scores are based on pre-determined start values and evaluated on the execution of skills. As many as 24 student-athletes may be competing as individuals or in groups in a given heat.
The roster size of acrobatics and tumbling typically includes 30-45 female student-athletes, which will help grow upon the current 300-plus student-athletes currently enrolled and competing at D'Youville University.
"Our mission is to ensure more young women have access to the life-changing experience of being a collegiate student-athlete," Cook added. "Each new A and T program provides opportunities for young women training in gymnastics and cheerleading to transition their skill set to the collegiate level while they earn a degree. We are thankful for D'Youville's commitment to providing new opportunities for women and look forward to supporting them as they implement their program."
Upon the announcement of adding acrobatics and tumbling, Halladay has named Sophie Binsol as the team's first head coach. Binsol is excited about the opportunity to become the team's first ever acrobatics and tumbling head coach as you can build everything from the ground up.
"Coach Binsol will bring to us experience from a winning program, energy to build a best-in-class program, and the key human elements needed to lead young women," said Halladay on the hiring of Binsol. "We are thrilled that she will be the leader of the Saints Acrobatics and Tumbling program."
"The appeal lies in the chance to shape a vision into reality, starting with building a solid foundation, develop athletes and our team culture, and having a meaningful impact on the Saint community," Binsol said. "Building a program from the ground up is a rare opportunity that I will not take for granted. The level of appreciation I have for this sport and the amount of opportunity I have witnessed it bring to myself and my peers has allowed me to truly understand what I can accomplish in this position. "
Binsol comes to D'Youville by way of Stevenson University, where she has served as an assistant coach since fall of 2024. While at Stevenson, Binsol assisted with practice plans and on-mat instructions. Binsol also assisted with the recruiting of student-athletes and coordinating on-campus visits.
"As a coach, I prioritize creating a positive and inclusive environment where athletes can grow both personally and athletically," said Binsol when asked about her as a coach. "I expect a high level of commitment, effort, and respect but I also believe in having fun and creating memorable experiences! I will continuously encourage the Saint community to learn more about AandT and attend our home competitions to see what AandT is all about!"
Prior to Stevenson, Binsol served as a volunteer assistant coach at Gannon University during the 2023-24 academic year. There, Binsol assisted with the on-mat instruction and helped the Golden Knights become a national finalist at the 2024 NCATA National Championships.
Binsol was a decorated student-athlete in her own regards as she was a four-year member of the Golden Knights acrobatics and tumbling team. Binsol won named heat champion in both the Toss Evet Synchronized and Toss Event Open at the 2023 NCATA National Championship. During the 2022 NCATA National Championships, Binsol helped her team become National Finalist.
Binsol graduated from Gannon with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology in the spring of 2023. Binsol was also a member of Chi Alpha Sigma and the National Collegiate Athlete Honor Society.
Binsol will start at D'Youville on December 2nd.
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The Emerging Sports for Women program – overseen by the NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics – was established in 1994 based on a recommendation from the NCAA Gender Equity Task Force. Since then, five sports have become championship sports (beach volleyball, rowing, ice hockey, water polo and bowling), while women's wrestling is on track to become the sixth, pending membership approval at the 2025 NCAA Convention. In 2023-24, emerging sports accounted for over 5,000 participation opportunities for women, an increase of over 30% from 2022-23, based on NCAA Sports Sponsorship and Participation Rates data.
