INDIANAPOLIS – One day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from women’s sports, the NCAA said Thursday it was changing its student-athlete participation policy. Only athletes who are female at birth are eligible to compete in female sports.
Transgender student-athletes who are male at birth are permitted to practice with a female team and receive medical care during practice, policy says.
“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 President Charlie Baker said. said in a statement. “To that end, President Trump’s orders provide clear national standards.”
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is an organization consisting of 1,100 universities and universities from all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 50,000 students.
The NCAA was able to compete in women’s sports in February 2022 by trans athletes.
In addition to reversing student-athlete policy on Thursday, the NCAA board has also directed staff to help member schools develop a respectful and inclusive university athletic culture, the NCAA said. It also requested that mental health best practices be updated to ensure that schools have access to mental health resources and services for all student-athletes.
