The Mercyhurst Athletics Department recently announced a new women’s sport called STUNT.

“We are so excited to add STUNT to Mercyhurst. Mercyhurst adding STUNT offers so much opportunity for not only incoming freshmen, but also for current students who are interested in the new sport!” said the Assistant Athletic Director, Allison Brace.

STUNT is a new sport that incorporates skills derived from cheerleading. STUNT is one of the fastest growing female sports in the country. The NCAA has announced that STUNT is classified as an emerging sport.

It removes the crowd-leading factor of cheerleading and focuses on the technical and athletic components of cheer. It is an exciting head-to-head game played between two teams. Each team executes a skill base routine in categories such as partner stunts, jumps, tumbling, pyramids, tosses, and team routines.

The teams must perform head-to-head on the floor at the same time. The team that executes the best skills will win a point for that round and will also get the opportunity to determine which routine level will be called next.

“I’m looking forward to the opportunities this sport will add for the University, current and potential students, and within the NCAA,” said Brace.

Mercyhurst is one of about 60 schools across the country to welcome STUNT onto campus and is also the first school in Pennsylvania to have a STUNT team.

“Mercyhurst being the first school in PA to have STUNT is such a monumental statistic. We fully anticipate the addition of STUNT at Mercyhurst and in PA will lead to other schools adding the sport and helping it to grow,” said Brace.

When deciding to add STUNT as a women’s sport, Mercyhurst had meetings with the coordinators from USA Cheer and STUNT. The sport became even more appealing to Mercyhurst as the sport started to grow both at a collegiate and high school level.

“We at STUNT and USA Cheer are excited for Mercyhurst University to be adding a STUNT Program to their athletics department,” said Amy Hansy, STUNT Director of Expansion and Media.

“With their mission of providing a top-notch student-athlete experience, we know STUNT will be another great opportunity for female athletes on their campus.”

“I think STUNT will be popular for students who are interested in playing but will also spark interest for spectators and students to watch! The sport is exciting to watch and I think people will look forward to learning about it and watching it happen!” said Brace.

Joining STUNT would be a great opportunity to get involved on campus. STUNT is a spring sport that will compete both weekends and weekdays February through May.

Students who are interested in joining STUNT can fill out the recruitment form on the Hurst Athletics website and will be contacted by the coach upon hire.