One day after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in girls and women's sports, the NCAA has amended its policy on transgender athletes to align with the "Keeping Men Out of Women's Sports" executive order. Effective immediately, NCAA rules will now limit participation in women's sports to the administration's definition of females only.
The President's executive order signed Wednesday gave federal agencies the ability to withhold federal funding from entities that do not abide by Title IX policies, namely the Trump administration's interpretation of a person's sex as the gender assigned at birth. The NCAA's previous policy had been to determine transgender participation through a sport-by-sport policy via either the national governing body, the international governing policy, or the policies of the International Olympic Committee.
Per the NCAA's new policy, an athlete who was born female who has begun hormone therapy (testosterone, estrogen, etc.) can practice with a women's team, but cannot compete on the team without risking their eligibility for championships. Athletes who were born male may practice with women's teams, and also will be eligible for benefits such as medical care.
Regardless of biological sex or gender at birth, an athlete can practice and compete with a men's team assuming they meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements. This will allow, for example, women's teams to continue to practice against men's teams.
NCAA member schools will remain responsible for certifying athlete eligibility for practice and competition, and schools will be subject to local, state and federal legislation superseding NCAA rules.
Although it is believed that there are very few transgender athletes in the NCAA, transgender athletes competing in women's sports had become a major cultural and political issue leading up to the 2024 election, with critics arguing that transgender women -- particularly those who retained the physical strength of a typical biological male -- possessed an unfair advantage and also posed a safety issue by competing in women's sports. The matter became one of several cultural issues that were a part of President Trump's re-election campaign, with the executive order to address the matter being enacted less than a month into his administration.
The NCAA's change in policy came shortly after the Trump administration announced that it had opened investigations into San Jose State University, the University of Pennsylvania and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association for potential civil rights violations for allowing transgender athletes to compete on women's teams. Penn features the most prominent example of transgender athletes on women's teams, as three former teammates of transgender swimmer Lia Thomas have filed lawsuits over Thomas' participation in conference and national championships claiming it violated Title IX provisions.
