The San Jose State player will take the court to warm up on October 31, 2024 in San Jose, California before a match between NCAA Women’s College Volleyball and the Air Force.
Toggle caption
Eakin Howard/AP
The NCAA on Thursday changed its participation policy for trans athletes, limiting competition for women’s sports to athletes assigned 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 decision was welcomed by Tentucky State swimmer Riley Gaines. Gaines, who was at the White House signing ceremony with Trump and the White House, is one of more than 12 university athletes who filed a lawsuit against the NCAA last year, allowing trans woman Leah Thomas to compete in the nationals. He accused him of violating Title IX’s rights. 2022 Championship.

Shortly after the NCAA announced the policy change, Gaines posted to X, saying, “You feel like you know you don’t have to experience what I did with my teammates. I can’t even tell them.
The previous NCAA policy came into effect in 2022 and 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.
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 He said.

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.
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 of transgender swimmer Thomas sued the NCAA, Ivy League, Harvard and the school this week for violating Title IX regulations. I’ve said that.
Sia Liilii, captain of the Nevada volleyball team, who refused to play for San Jose State this season, said she “made it an ec” about the new NCAA policy.
“Women have fought so long and hard for equal athletic opportunities,” Leeli said. “By completely removing men from women’s sports, we’re back to the true definition of title (IX): women defend their sports department and give them the opportunity to shine on the floor of fair competition. It’s been done.”
The NCAA also said the committee had instructed staff to help all member schools cultivate a comprehensive university athletic culture, and recently updated their 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.