Texas State University announced Monday in a release plans to launch the first NCAA Division I women’s gymnastics program in Texas. Competition is tentatively slated to begin in spring 2028, while a search for a head coach will begin immediately.
“Texas has long been the nation’s greatest producer of elite gymnasts, yet until now, those athletes had to leave home to compete at the NCAA Division I level,” Texas State president Kelly Damphousse said in the release. “TXST is proud to change that. This program represents opportunity, ambition, and a new level of national prominence for our university, our student-athletes, and our state.”
Gymnastics was one of the six original women’s varsity teams created after Title IX was signed into law in 1972, alongside basketball, swimming, tennis, track and field and volleyball. The then-Southwest Texas gymnastics program saw success during its existence. Led by head coach Darlene Schmidt, the group finished as high as third at the 1984 Division II National Championship, according to Gymnastics Now.
Despite Schmidt’s 75-31 record over the past five years and her team reaching the nationals in 1982, 1984 and 1985, athletic director Bill Miller decided to cut gymnastics at Texas State in 1986.
The decision was met with widespread criticism, according to a 1988 Chicago Tribune article. The elimination was made possible because in 1984, the Supreme Court ruled in Grove City College v Bell that only programs, not institutions, receiving federal funds would be subject to Title IX. The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 reversed this decision, but it was too little, too late for SWT gymnastics.
The Tribune article said that SWT “was known as the place to go in the state for gymnastics.” The revival of the program gives Texas State a chance to rebuild that reputation.
The move comes as Texas State prepares July 1 to officially join the Pac-12. Boise State, Oregon State, Utah State and Southern Utah are the other Pac-12 programs that Texas State will compete against in women’s gymnastics.