President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday titled Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports. The order, which emphasizes fairness, safety, and equal opportunity for female athletes, has prompted the NCAA to update its policies on transgender student-athlete participation.
The executive order directs federal agencies to enforce Title IX protections, ensuring that biological males are barred from competing in women’s sports. It also mandates the withholding of federal funds from educational programs that allow men to participate in women’s athletic competitions.
READ: President Trump Signs Executive Order To Protect Women’s Sports, Ensuring Fairness and Safety
“In recent years, many educational institutions and athletic associations have allowed men to compete in women’s sports,” the order states. “This is demeaning, unfair, and dangerous to women and girls, and denies them the equal opportunity to participate and excel in competitive sports.”
Following the executive order, the NCAA announced an immediate update to its transgender student-athlete participation policy. Under the new guidelines, competition in women’s sports is restricted to student-athletes assigned female at birth. Biological males may practice with women’s teams and receive benefits such as medical care but are barred from competing in women’s events.
“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,” said 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.”
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The NCAA’s new policy establishes clear guidelines for transgender student-athletes:
NCAA men’s sports:
- Regardless of sex assigned at birth or gender identity, a student-athlete may participate (practice and competition) in NCAA men’s sports, assuming they meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements.
- *Student-athletes taking a banned substance (e.g., testosterone) must complete the medical exception process.
NCAA women’s sports:
- A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete for an NCAA women’s team.
- A student-athlete assigned male at birth may practice on an NCAA women’s team and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes. Division I leadership is planning to adopt roster limits in place of scholarship limits and new practice squad policies are still in development.
- A student-athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy (e.g., testosterone) may not compete on a women’s team. If such competition occurs, the team will be subject to NCAA mixed-team legislation, and the team will no longer be eligible for NCAA women’s championships.
- A student-athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy (e.g., testosterone) may continue practicing with a women’s team and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes.
- Individual schools have the autonomy to determine athletics participation on their campuses.
- NCAA schools are subject to local, state and federal legislation and such policy supersedes the rules of the NCAA.
- Sports with mixed men’s and women’s NCAA championships are exempt from this policy (e.g., rifle).
The NCAA also emphasized its commitment to fostering inclusive and respectful athletic environments, requiring member schools to provide mental health services and resources to all student-athletes.
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