The NCAA has announced a major change to its transgender athlete participation policy, restricting women’s sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth. The decision, effective immediately, comes just one day after Trump signed an executive order aimed at banning transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
The order allows federal agencies to withhold funding from schools and organizations that do not comply with Title IX in alignment with the Trump administration’s definition of sex, which is based on gender assigned at birth. With over 1,100 member schools and more than 500,000 athletes, the NCAA’s policy shift is expected to have a widespread impact on college sports.
NCAA President Charlie Baker addressed the change, emphasizing the need for clear national standards instead of varying state laws and court rulings. “We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes,” Baker said. “To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”
