As Texas State prepares to enter a new era with joining the Pac-12 Conference in a month, the athletics department announced the addition of a women’s gymnastics program as the 17th team Texas State will field.
This marks a historic first in a growing sport as the state of Texas now has its first Division I women’s gymnastics program. For the longest time, the only college in Texas to have offered women’s gymnastics was Division II powerhouse Texas Woman’s University based in Denton.
Texas State will be one of five teams in the new Pac-12 that will have a women’s gymnastics program, including Boise State, Oregon State, Utah State and Southern Utah. They will host competition and meets at Strahan Arena as well.
“We are excited to make women’s gymnastics our 17th sport and expand opportunities for female student-athletes in one of the fastest-growing sports in collegiate athletics,” Texas State Athletics Director Don Coryell said. “Texas State is uniquely positioned to create a nationally competitive gymnastics program as we enter the Pac-12. We are committed to building a well-planned, sustained program that serves our student-athletes and the state of Texas for years to come.”
The search for a new head coach is already underway, set to take course over Summer 2026. Once hired, recruiting student-athletes will shortly begin afterwards with the first scholarships being awarded during 2027-28. This all lead up to the expected target date of their first NCAA-sanctioned competition in Spring 2028.
In the meantime, two prominent gymnastic figures in former Arkansas Razorbacks head coach Jordyn Wieber and Carley Patterson, both of whom captured gold medals in the Olympics, will oversee the program as part of a steering committee.
The murmurs that the institution would bring about a women’s gymnastics team originally came in the form of a 13-document pitch Texas State sent to the Pac-12, obtained by Jakob Rodriguez of Squarin’ Around via a public information request in October 2025, with the university expecting to put in an estimated ~$1.2 million a year into the program beginning in fiscal year 2028.
During its first stint from 1972-1986, the program officially became one of six women teams, including swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball and basketball to be created after Title IX came into law.
Under head coach Darlene Schmidt, who was the team’s sole head coach up from it’s creation to then-demise, the program saw vast success against Division II competition, having many individual athletes earn the right to compete for titles and the team itself reaching national championship competitions for three straight years in 1983-1985 until the program was cut under then-athletic director Bill Miller, according to a Feb. 1988 Chicago Tribune article.
Texas State women’s gymnastics will have a lot to do in the coming year before they are set to begin play at Strahan Arena in Spring 2028.