NCAA votes for sport-by-sport approach to transgender participation

The NCAA Board of Governors on Wednesday voted in support of a sport-by-sport approach to transgender participation that preserves opportunity for transgender student-athletes while balancing fairness, inclusion and safety for all who compete. The new policy, effective immediately, aligns transgender student-athlete participation for college sports with recent policy changes (PDF) from the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee and International Olympic Committee.

Like the Olympics, the updated NCAA policy calls for transgender participation for each sport to be determined by the policy for the national governing body of that sport, subject to ongoing review and recommendation by the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports to the Board of Governors. If there is no NGB policy for a sport, that sport’s international federation policy would be followed. If there is no international federation policy, previously established IOC policy criteria would be followed.

The Board of Governors urged the divisions to provide flexibility to allow for additional eligibility if a transgender student-athlete loses eligibility based on the policy change provided they meet the newly adopted standards.

The policy is effective starting with the 2022 winter championships. Transgender student-athletes will need to document sport-specific testosterone levels beginning four weeks before their sport’s championship selections. Starting with the 2022-23 academic year, transgender student-athletes will need documented levels at the beginning of their season and a second documentation six months after the first. They will also need documented testosterone levels four weeks before championship selections. Full implementation would begin with the 2023-24 academic year.

“We are steadfast in our support of transgender student-athletes and the fostering of fairness across college sports,” said John DeGioia, chair of the board and Georgetown president. “It is important that NCAA member schools, conferences and college athletes compete in an inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment and can move forward with a clear understanding of the new policy.”

“Approximately 80% of U.S. Olympians are either current or former college athletes,” said Mark Emmert, NCAA president. “This policy alignment provides consistency and further strengthens the relationship between college sports and the U.S. Olympics.”

Additionally, the NCAA’s Office of Inclusion and the Sport Science Institute released the Gender Identity and Student-Athlete Participation Summit Final Report (PDF). The report assists ongoing membership efforts to support inclusion, fairness, and the mental and physical health of transgender and non-binary student-athletes in collegiate sport.

The Board of Governors met Wednesday in Indianapolis as part of the 2022 NCAA Convention. For more on key topics from the 2022 NCAA Convention, visit ncaa.org/convention.

The issue came to prominence over Transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, swimming the fastest times in the nation, competing in women’s swim events. Thomas was born male, but transgendered to female. Thomas competed for the Penn men’s team for three years before completing the required one year of “testosterone supression treatment” in order to be eligible to compete as a female.

Transgender Olympic athlete Caitlyn Jenner (Brian Jenner), has been critical about Thomas competing as a female and maintains rules need to be developed to protect women’s sports. Jenner makes the point that athletes who grow up biologically as one sex, especially a male, should not be allowed to compete as a female.

Recently there has been accusations that Thomas threw a race to a transitioning partner athlete to show that gender and transgender issues do not matter.

Here is the IOC docuument referenced, above: