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NCAA Capitulates After Trump Order
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NCAA Capitulates After Trump Order

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has made a landmark decision, aligning itself with President Donald Trump’s recent executive order by officially restricting participation in women’s sports to athletes who were assigned female at birth. The announcement marks a decisive shift in college athletics, bringing clarity to a long-debated issue that has fueled controversy and legal battles across the nation.

“A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women’s team,” the new policy states, ending the NCAA’s previous approach, which varied sport by sport and mirrored Olympic guidelines.

The timing of the announcement is no coincidence. It comes less than 24 hours after Trump, flanked by young female athletes in sports uniforms, signed an executive order prohibiting trans-identifying males from competing in girls’ and women’s sports. “From now on, women’s sports will be only for women,” Trump declared before signing the order, which also mandates the Education Department to enforce Title IX protections for female athletes. Schools that allow male athletes to compete in female divisions or require girls to share locker rooms with biological males now face losing federal funding.

For the NCAA, the executive order provided the clarity it had long lacked. NCAA President Charlie Baker welcomed the move, stating, “We strongly believe that clear, consistent, and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions. To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”

The new NCAA policy, effective immediately, is a sweeping change—but it stops short of addressing one contentious issue: locker rooms. While trans-identifying male athletes will no longer be allowed to compete in women’s sports, they can still practice with women’s teams.

For female athletes who have fought against policies allowing male participation, this decision is deeply vindicating. Riley Gaines, the former University of Kentucky swimmer who tied with Lia Thomas in a high-profile NCAA championship race in 2022, expressed relief and gratitude. “I can’t even begin to tell you how vindicating it feels knowing no girl will ever have to experience what my teammates and I did. Thank God Trump is back in office,” she posted on X.

Others echoed similar sentiments, citing both fairness and safety concerns. Payton McNabb, a former high school volleyball player who suffered a permanent injury after being struck in the head by a male competitor’s spike, called the NCAA’s decision long overdue. “I’m incredibly thankful the NCAA is finally listening to women and taking a stand to protect female athletes.”

But not everyone is celebrating without reservations. Paula Scanlan, a former University of Pennsylvania swimmer who was forced to compete alongside Lia Thomas, acknowledged the NCAA’s decision as a “historic moment” but warned that the fight is far from over. “As a sexual assault survivor, I was forced to undress 18 times per week with a fully intact male on my women’s swim team—who under these new policies could be permitted to practice with our team,” Scanlan said. “States must act to protect women’s intimate spaces beyond sports competitions—we deserve safety and privacy in every aspect of athletics.”

Trump’s stance on women’s sports proved to be a galvanizing issue during his 2024 campaign, drawing strong support from parents, athletes, and advocacy groups who opposed gender ideology in sports. The growing backlash was fueled by female athletes losing competitions to male competitors, enduring uncomfortable locker room situations, and, in some cases, suffering devastating injuries from male players.

Written by Arthur Higgens - February 9, 2025