The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics announced a policy Monday that all but bans transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports at its 241 mostly small colleges across the country.
The NAIA Council of Presidents approved the policy in a 20-0 vote at its annual convention in Kansas City, Missouri. The NAIA, which oversees some 83,000 athletes competing in more than 25 sports, is believed to be the first college sports organization to take such a step.
According to the transgender participation policy, all athletes may participate in NAIA-sponsored male sports but only athletes whose biological sex assigned at birth is female and have not begun hormone therapy will be allowed participate in women’s sports.
A student who has begun hormone therapy may participate in activities such as workouts, practices and team activities, but not in interscholastic competition.
There are none, and I literally just told you why. In sports like basketball, strength is so important that being more skilled than a man isn’t enough to overcome the physical disadvantage women have. It’s not that women are banned from the NBA.
The ability to jump really high is the obvious example in the NBA. Plenty of women are tall. There are plenty who can handle a ball and shoot at that level. But it’s incredibly rare for women to dunk, and that’s something everyone in the NBA can do. Spud Webb, at 5’7", could do it so well he won the slam dunk contest in '86. Meanwhile, only 8 women in the history of the WNBA have done it, and the vast majority of those dunks belong to Brittney Griner, who’s 6’9".
That is what you said.
And you asked about the NBA, which is basketball.
In baseball, there’s a long history of women playing with men. Lizzie Murphy played in the minors in the 20s. Jackie Mitchel struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game in the 30s while playing in the Southern League. Toni Stone, Connie Morgan, and Mamie Johnson played in the Negro Leagues in the 50s. Ila Borders pitched for the St. Paul Saints in the 90s. Eri Yoshida pitched in several men’s leagues over the last decade or so. Stacy Piagno played in the Pacific League a few years ago. Kelsie Whitmore is currently playing in the Atlantic League. There are also several women currently coaching men at the highest levels - Justine Siegal, Bianca Smith, Rachel Balkovec, Alyssa Nakken, Sarah Edwards.