MONTECITO, Calif. - A new sport is making its debut at Westmont College this year and the athletes joining the team are helping build the program from the ground up.
Westmont is launching its first-ever STUNT team, with its inaugural competition season set to begin in February 2027.
STUNT combines athletic elements traditionally associated with cheerleading including partner stunts, pyramids, tosses, jumps and tumbling with head-to-head competition.
“I am really excited,” said Ariana Johnson, Westmont’s STUNT head coach. “I love coaching, I love caring for people, I love this school.”
For Johnson, who has deep roots in Santa Barbara, building the program is about more than competition. She hopes to create a team culture where athletes can grow both on and off the mat.
“What Santa Barbara needs to hear is that this sport is very different,” Johnson said. “This sport is not cheerleading. This is their athlete. They're the star.”
Unlike traditional cheerleading, STUNT is structured as a game between two teams. Athletes compete in specific routines and skills, with points awarded based on execution.
Johnson says the sport also gives athletes with backgrounds in cheer, dance and tumbling another opportunity to compete at the collegiate level.
“This will be a great opportunity for them to see, ‘Oh, I can do this in college,’” Johnson said. “I can take my cheer background, my dance background, my tumbling background and put it to an actual sport.”
For Westmont's inaugural athletes, being the first team comes with a unique responsibility: helping establish a foundation for the athletes who will come after them.
“I'm mostly looking forward to creating a culture and a foundation for all the years to come of STUNT,” said freshman athlete Taryn Kampsen. “I'm really excited for that.”
Freshman athlete Gianna Hernandez said being part of the first team also carries personal meaning for her family.
“It's definitely surreal,” Hernandez said. “It's just nice being able to carry on what they would have wanted for themselves, to be able to do that for my whole family.”
Westmont is also entering STUNT at a significant moment for the sport.
In January 2026, all three NCAA divisions voted to make STUNT an NCAA championship sport. The first NCAA championship is expected to be held in spring 2027.
Robert Ruiz, Westmont's Athletic Director, who has followed the sport's development within the NCAA, said the change represents a major step for STUNT.
“I followed the sport in the NCAA and watched how it went from an emerging sport to just this past year getting voted in as a national championship sport,” Ruiz said.
For Johnson, that timing makes Westmont's first season even more meaningful.
“Every athlete that's here has that calling,” Johnson said. “They want to do something bigger than themselves, and they want to do something that they get to do as a legacy and be the first ever.”
Westmont's first STUNT competition is scheduled for February 2027, marking the beginning of a new chapter for the college and for the athletes who will be the first to compete for the program.
For more information and for scholarship opportunities, you can visit their official website.
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