Under fire because of a policy that allowed transgender athletes, who had gone through male puberty to compete against biological female athletes, 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
NCAA Alters Transgender Policy
