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Men’s lacrosse and women’s acrobatics and tumbling will be added as the 22nd and 23rd intercollegiate athletic programs offered by Iona University in the 2024-2025 academic year, the university announced.
“As Iona University continues to grow, we are very proud to offer these expanded opportunities for varsity intercollegiate competition to our students,” said Matthew Glovaski, Iona’s director of athletics. “With the Northeast and in particular Westchester County and the New York Metropolitan Area being a historical hotbed for scholastic men’s lacrosse and the rise of acrobatics and tumbling as an emerging sport for women in the NCAA, these programs will integrate themselves seamlessly into the goals and aspirations of the university.”
Iona, which introduced a club men’s lacrosse program in 2022, will compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in the spring 2025 season. The Gaels will become the 11th men’s lacrosse program in the conference featuring Manhattan College, Marist College and Wagner College.
“With our 10 current teams, Iona will strengthen the league and make our already competitive league even better,” said MAAC Commissioner Rich Ensor.
Women’s acrobatics and tumbling, which combines different disciplines of gymnastics and competitive cheerleading, will be overseen by the National Collegiate Acrobatics & Tumbling Association (NCATA), which had 32 programs competing in 2021-2022.
The NCAA adopted women’s acrobatics and tumbling as an emerging sport for women after reaching 30 members in 2020.
“Iona’s announcement continues expansion momentum in the Northeast, through which we’ve been fortunate to grow in all three NCAA divisions,” said Janell Cook, the executive director of NCATA.
“Our NCATA member administrators continue to be our best advocates. We are thankful for those in the region who provided support to Iona through this process as we collectively move forward towards our goal of reaching NCAA championship sport status.”
