I am excited to announce news that I believe will have a huge impact on women’s sports, not just at Texas State University, but throughout Texas and across the nation.

Texas State Athletics will announce today its plans to field the first NCAA Division I women’s gymnastics program in the state of Texas. Competition is tentatively scheduled to begin in Spring 2028.

Texas is home to more than 100 current NCAA gymnasts, and it trains 25% of the nation’s elite talent, yet the state has never had a Division I women’s gymnastics program. This has forced Texas athletes to pursue their collegiate goals outside the state. TXST will lead the effort to fill that gap by establishing a bold new chapter for women’s sports right here on our San Marcos campus.  

This is massive news for the Bobcats, for the Pac-12, and for Texas as a whole.

For TXST, this puts our university front and center in one of the nation’s fastest-growing sports, which saw viewership of the NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championships increase to a record 1.7 million in 2026, up from 1.1 million just five years earlier. This growth parallels the sport’s expanding international appeal – women’s gymnastics is the most watched event in the Summer Olympics. For the Pac-12, it means expanding the sport within the conference, with on-campus sellouts and crowds of up to 13,000 fans becoming routine, nationwide.

And for Texas, the epicenter of elite U.S. Olympic gymnastics, it means the estimated 40,000 Texas children and teens will now be able to dream of competing as a collegiate gymnast in their home state.

Establishing this team is also a big part of TXST’s ongoing strategy for continuing to attract high-quality students to Texas State. Women’s gymnastics programs draw scholar-athletes who are consistently among the top performing students on any campus, typically graduating at a rate of 99%.  

Combined with our move to the Pac-12, our run to achieve R1 Carnegie classification that is on track for 2027, and graduating the largest class in school history in early May, this is one of the most transformative, and exciting, times in TXST history. Adding a women’s gymnastics program is just one more way that we are raising our national profile. I would like to thank TXST Athletics Director Don Coryell and his team for all their hard work in making this opportunity happen. They are already working on plans to raise the private funds that will be needed to make our new gymnastics program successful.  

A search for our first coach will soon be underway, and more details on the development of the women’s gymnastics program will be shared as we move forward. The forthcoming press release will describe what the Texas and national gymnastics communities are saying about this decision. You can also find additional information on the Texas State University gymnastics webpage. When the first competition is held on our campus, I hope to see you in the stands as well.  

I look forward to sharing updates on this exciting effort as they become available. 

Sincerely,

Kelly Damphousse
President