NCAA Adopts New Transgender Policy

NCAA has come under fire ever since the Lia Thomas case has come captured the attention of the public. Lia Thomas,22, has been breaking the records on the Women’s swim team of UPenn just a year after transitioning. Prior to that Thomas had been a middling swimmer on the men’s team.

Now there’s a public outcry – and thanks to the huge backlash there will be a sport by sport approach for transgender athletes in the US and International Olympic Committees.

Previously we reported on the lobbying efforts to frame Thomas’ plight as a case similar to racial injustice African Americans have experienced in the past. 

Thomas and transgender students-athletes will be required to document sport-specific testosterone levels four weeks before their sport’s championship selections, via the NCAA. Starting with the 2022-23 academic year, transgender student-athletes must then provide a additional documentation six months after the first.

Olympians Michael Phelps and Caityln Jenner have weighed in on the topic:

“I think this leads back to the organizing committees again,” Phelps told CNN this week. “Because it has to be a level playing field. That’s something that we all need. Because that’s what sports are. For me, I don’t know where this is going to go. I don’t know what’s going to happen.”

“I’ve said from the beginning, biological boys should not be playing in women’s sports,” Jenner told Fox News. “We need to protect women’s sports.”

Transgender participation for each sport will be determined by the policy for the sport’s national governing body, subject to review and recommendation by an NCAA committee to the Board of Governors.