The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes on Thursday, limiting women’s sports competition to athletes who only allocated women at birth.
The move comes a day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from girls and women’s sports. The order gives federal agencies the withholding federal funds from entities whose Title IX does not comply with the views of the Trump administration.
Changes to the NCAA policy will take effect immediately and apply to all athletes regardless of previous eligibility reviews. The NCAA has around 1,100 member schools and over 500,000 athletes, making it the largest governing body for university athletics in the United States.
“We strongly believe that clear, consistent, uniform eligibility criteria, rather than a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions, will best serve student-athletes today,” NCAA’s Charlie Baker The president said. “To that end, President Trump’s orders provide clear national standards.”
The NCAA policy, which came into effect in 2022, adopted a sports-by-sport approach. There, transgender participation was determined by the policy of the national governing body of sports. In sports that do not have national governing bodies, the League of Nations policy for that sport is introduced. In the absence of a League of Nations policy, previously established IOC policy standards will be carried over.
However, over the past year, trans athletes have been targeted by critics who say that women’s participation in sports is unfair and a potential safety risk. Despite being thought to have a very small number of trans athletes, it became a hot topic in Trump’s reelection campaign. Baker said last year that he only knows 10 NCAA trans athletes.
In a speech Wednesday, President Trump said that his administration would “investigate all schools that receive federal funding “if men take over women’s sports teams” for a violation of Title IX. He said he was notified.
The NCAA revised policy allows athletes to practice with the female team and receive medical and other benefits, including medical care, by athletes assigned a male at birth. For example, it is not uncommon for a female basketball team to practice with fellow male students.
Regardless of the gender assigned by birth or gender identity, athletes can practice and compete with male teams, assuming they meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements.
However, the NCAA allows athletes assigned athletes at birth to start hormone therapy (such as testosterone) to practice with female teams, but cannot compete with female teams without risking team eligibility for the championship Was stated.
Member schools are responsible for certifying athletes’ practice and competitive eligibility. The NCAA also states that schools are subject to local, state and federal laws, and such laws have replaced NCAA regulations.
President Donald Trump’s executive order on gender has led activists to intensify the petition for Worcester to stand behind people of transgender and gender diverse.
NCAA policy change investigates potential civil rights violations at two universities and potential civil rights violations in high school sports leagues that allow transgender athletes to compete on women’s teams It was announced after he said he was doing so. The Department of Education said it has launched a review of the Inter-Master Governance Athletic Association of San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania and Massachusetts.
The San Jose state women’s volleyball team drew headlines last season on an unconfirmed allegation that a transgender player was included on the roster. Regarding Penn, three former teammates, transgender swimmer Leah Thomas, sued the NCAA, Ivy League, Harvard University and schools to attend conference and national championships, saying they violated Title IX regulations. I did.
The NCAA said the Governor’s Committee has directed staff to help all member schools promote a respectful and inclusive university athletic culture, and has recently updated its mental health guidance.
“The updated policies combined with these resources follow the NCAA’s constitutional commitment to enabling intercollegiate athletics competition and protecting, supporting and enhancing the mental and physical health of student-athletes.” Baker said. “This national standard provides much needed clarity to modernize university sports for today’s student-athletes.”
The NCAA policy now reflects the policies of the National Athletics Association, which currently dominates sports at most 241 small universities across the country. Last April, NAIA unanimously approved a policy that allows only athletes whose gender assigned at birth are female and who have not begun competing for hormonal therapy to compete.
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