On Monday, the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the governing body for more than 200 primarily small colleges, announced a new policy that will prevent transgender athletes from competing in women's sports starting next school year.
The organization that oversees various sports, including basketball, American football, baseball, volleyball, and athletics, among others, explained that this decision is based on the need to guarantee equal opportunities for female athletes in their competition.
"The NAIA supports fair and safe competition opportunities for all student-athletes," the organization said in a statement. "As a result, the NAIA offers separate categories of competition in all sports except for competitive cheer and competitive dance, which are both co-ed," it added.
In its statement, the organization detailed its rules of participation with specific conditions. "All eligible NAIA student-athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports," highlighting that in the case of sports designated as women's, only students whose biological sex is female will be able to compete in them.
The NAIA also established guidelines for those students who have begun masculinizing hormone therapies. These students may participate in internal activities of the institution, such as training and practices, but their participation in external competitions will be subject to the discretion of the NAIA member institution.
The new policy will go into effect on August 1, after the NAIA Council of Presidents voted in favor of the change by a unanimous result of 20-0.
Jim Carr, president of the NAIA, shared his support for the new policy: "We are unwavering in our support of fair competition for our student-athletes (...) it is crucial that NAIA member institutions, conferences, and student-athletes participate in an environment that is equitable and respectful."
Even though the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) takes a backseat compared to the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) in terms of size and influence, the NAIA is responsible for overseeing approximately 83,000 student-athletes at about 250 primarily private and relatively low-tuition institutions.
The new measure comes at a time when more and more female athletes are expressing concern about the participation of transgender people in women's sports competitions.
Recently, British Olympic medalist Sharron Davies joined this battle by sharing a photograph of a competition in which athlete CeCe Telfer and other women participated, highlighting that this amounts to "simply cheating." In the image, you can see how the athlete easily surpasses his female opponents in terms of height.
Spot the male athlete in the women’s race! It’s simply Cheating https://t.co/e5AhnCuRCF
— Sharron Davies MBE (@sharrond62) March 31, 2024
