The NCAA announced Thursday that it will no longer allow trans athletes to participate in women's sports and will no longer allow women to restrict participation as assigned at birth.
The policy changes approved by the NCAA board come the day after President Trump signed an executive order banning transgender athletes from competing in girls and women's sports.
“We strongly believe that clear, consistent, uniform eligibility criteria will best serve today's student-athletes, rather than a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions,” said the Massachusetts ex. Republican Governor Charlie Baker said Thursday.
“To that end, President Trump's orders provide clear national standards,” he added.
Changes to the NCAA policy will take effect immediately and will be universally applied to women's sports, regardless of eligibility under previous policies. Transgender athletes are eligible to participate in the male category under the updated policy.
Previously, the NCAA policy stated that transgender participation in each sport depends on guidelines set by the national or international governing body of the sport.
Including transgender in women's sports is a political lightning bolt, splitting the country and playing an increasingly central role in political campaigns. This week's Trump executive order fulfilled the promise of a long-standing campaign that brought together many of his bases ahead of the election.
Baker told the Senate committee that fewer than 10 trans athletes know who is currently competing in college sports, accounting for less than 0.002% of NCAA athletes nationwide.
The NCAA includes 1,100 universities and universities, with over 530,000 student-athletes, Baker said.
At least one NCAA official has resigned after the announcement on Thursday. Jack Turban said on social media that he has resigned from the NCAA committee on competitive protection measures and medical aspects of the sport.
“Unfortunately, the recent decision to issue a blanket ban on trans women's participation in women's sports is [medical] Or a scientific consensus,” Turban wrote in a letter to Baker. “At the expense of some of our most vulnerable student-athletes, I cannot participate in the politicization of conscientious science and medicine.”
Turban told Hill that he and other committee members were not given advance notice of the board's vote prior to the release.
Trump praised the NCAA decision on Thursday I'll post it on x“Exciting News! Due to the executive order signed yesterday, the NCAA officially changed its policy of allowing men in women's sports – now prohibited. This is a great day for women and girls across the country. is. “
He said, “Men should not have been allowed to compete with women in the first place, but I am proud to be president to save women's sports. The Olympic Committee also uses common sense. And we look forward to implementing this policy. It is extremely popular among Americans and the whole world!”
Brooke Migdon contributed.
Updated at 6:09 PM EST.
