GETTYSBURG, Pa. – Gettysburg College has announced the addition of three new women's varsity sports, expanding its intercollegiate athletics program over the next two academic years.

Women's wrestling will launch in 2026-27 as Gettysburg's 25th varsity sport. Women's acrobatics and tumbling and flag football and will follow in 2027-28 as the 26th and 27th programs.

These are the first sports added to the Bullets' varsity portfolio since women's golf debuted in 2000–01.

Gettysburg becomes the fourth Centennial Conference institution to sponsor women's wrestling, joining McDaniel, Muhlenberg, and Ursinus. The NCAA approved a Division III Women's Wrestling Championship at its January Convention, with the inaugural championship scheduled for spring 2028. The 2026 and 2027 championships will be conducted as National Collegiate Championships, encompassing all NCAA divisions. In 2025-26, 66 Division III institutions sponsor women's wrestling.

Women's wrestling is among the fastest-growing sports nationwide, with 41 states sanctioning official scholastic championships for girls, including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland. Participation now exceeds 50,000 high school athletes.

Acrobatics and tumbling was also approved as an NCAA championship sport in January. The inaugural National Collegiate Championship will take place in spring 2027. Since becoming an emerging sport in 2020, NCAA sponsorship has grown from 27 institutions in 2020-21 to 48 in 2025-26. Acrobatics and tumbling is a fast-paced, team-based discipline featuring synchronized performances across events such as acrobatics, pyramid, toss, tumbling, and team routines.

Flag football continues to experience rapid growth at the youth, high school, and collegiate levels. The sport's momentum includes its inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. More than 40 NCAA institutions currently sponsor flag football, with dozens more announcing plans to add the sport. In Pennsylvania, 152 schools now compete in girls' flag football, and the PIAA will host its first sanctioned state championship in May 2027. Eighteen states currently sanction the sport at the high school level.

Emerging sports are women's sports recognized by the NCAA to expand participation opportunities and support the development of new championship pathways. Since the NCAA launched its Emerging Sports for Women program in 1994, eight sports have achieved championship status, including wrestling and acrobatics and tumbling.

A national search for Gettysburg's first women's wrestling head coach will begin immediately. Searches for inaugural coaches in women's flag football and acrobatics and tumbling will begin later this spring.