NCAA announces transgender student-athlete participation policy change

The NCAA announced a change to its transgender student-athlete participation policy on Thursday, February 6. The men’s category will still be open to all eligible student-athletes, but the women’s category will now be restricted to student-athletes assigned female at birth.

The policy does still allow student-athletes assigned male at birth to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits, like medical care, while practicing.

The NCAA says this policy is effective immediately and will apply to all student-athletes regardless of previous eligibility reviews. The policy change has come in response to the executive order signed by President Donald Trump on February 5, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which reinterprets Title IX, which bans sex discrimination in schools, to prohibit transgender participating in women’s sports.

“The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes,” explained NCAA President Charlie Baker. “We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”

In a release to the public, the NCAA said its Board of Governors has also been directed to help all member schools, ” foster respectful and inclusive collegiate athletic cultures.” The NCAA will still be required to make mental health services and resources available to all student-athletes.

“The updated policy combined with these resources follows through on the NCAA’s constitutional commitment to deliver intercollegiate athletics competition and to protect, support and enhance the mental and physical health of student-athletes,” Baker said. “This national standard brings much needed clarity as we modernize college sports for today’s student-athletes.”