NCAA bans biological men from women’s sports

The National Collegiate Athletic Association announced its new policy on transgender athletes on Thursday, banning biological males from competing in women’s sports.

The men’s category is “open to all eligible student-athletes” while “women’s category restricted to student-athletes assigned female at birth,” an NCAA statement read, adding that it is conforming to the executive order on the subject issued by President Donald Trump.

“The NCAA is an organization made up of 1,100 colleges and universities in all 50 states that collectively enroll more than 530,000 student-athletes,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said on Wednesday. “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.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Wednesday that Trump expected the move from the NCAA.

“He does expect the Olympic Committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in women’s sports,” she told reporters. “I think the President, with the signing of his pen, starts a very public pressure campaign on these organizations to do the right thing for women and for girls across the country.”

Former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines, who has become one of the strongest advocates for women’s sports after being beat by a biological male, celebrated in a post on X:

Details of the new policy include:

NCAA men’s sports:

Regardless of sex assigned at birth or gender identity, a student-athlete may participate (practice and competition) in NCAA men’s sports, assuming they meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements.

*Student-athletes taking a banned substance (e.g., testosterone) must complete the medical exception process.

NCAA women’s sports:

A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete for an NCAA women’s team.

A student-athlete assigned male at birth may practice on an NCAA women’s team and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes. Division I leadership is planning to adopt roster limits in place of scholarship limits and new practice squad policies are still in development.

A student-athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy (e.g., testosterone) may not compete on a women’s team. If such competition occurs, the team will be subject to NCAA mixed-team legislation, and the team will no longer be eligible for NCAA women’s championships.

A student-athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy (e.g., testosterone) may continue practicing with a women’s team and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes.

Individual schools have the autonomy to determine athletics participation on their campuses.

NCAA schools are subject to local, state and federal legislation and such policy supersedes the rules of the NCAA.

Sports with mixed men’s and women’s NCAA championships are exempt from this policy (e.g., rifle).

Trump’s executive order also contains provisions to prevent transgender-identifying athletes from competing in the 2028 Olympics.

One provision orders the Secretary of Homeland Security and Secretary of State to prevent males from entering the country for the purpose of competing in women’s sports. Another calls on the Secretary of State to lobby the International Olympic Committee to ban transgender athletes from competing on the women’s side at the Olympics.

The leading candidates to take over as the International Olympic Committee president oppose letting males compete in women’s sports, according to The Daily Mail.

Keeping males out of women’s sports is a winning issue for conservatives; a January 2025 New York Times poll found that 79% of Americans oppose letting males compete in women’s sports, while only 18% support it.

(Josh Mann and Tom Joyce contributed to this report)