NCAA bars transgender athletes from competing in women’s college sports | NCAA

The NCAA changed its participation policy for transgender athletes on Thursday, limiting competition in women’s sports to athletes assigned female at birth.

The move came one day after Donald Trump signed an executive order intended to ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. The order gives federal agencies latitude to withhold federal funding from entities that do not abide by Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s view, which interprets “sex” as the gender someone was assigned at birth.

The NCAA policy change is effective immediately and applies to all athletes regardless of previous eligibility reviews under the NCAA’s prior transgender participation policy. The organization has more than 1,200 schools with more than 500,000 athletes, easily the largest governing body for college athletics in the US.

“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,” the NCAA’s president, Charlie Baker, said. “To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”

The NCAA’s revised policy permits athletes assigned male at birth to practice with women’s teams and receive benefits such as medical care while practicing.

Baker added that the NCAA is still committed to “protect, support and enhance the mental and physical health of student-athletes”, referring to a recent update to the mental health guidelines.

“This national standard brings much-needed clarity as we modernize college sports for today’s student-athletes,” Baker said.

After the executive order, the Trump administration said on Thursday it was investigating potential “civil rights violations” at two universities and a high school sports league that allowed trans athletes to compete on women’s teams. The education department opened reviews of San Jose State University, the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association and the University of Pennsylvania.