NCAA president says trans athlete rules will stay same after Supreme Court decision
The Supreme Court has said states can block trans athletes competing in girls’ sports (Stock Image/Getty Images)
The NCAA does not expect to change its policy on transgender athletes following the US Supreme Court’s recent decision allowing states to ban transgender girls and women from participating in female school sports, according to NCAA president Charlie Baker.
Speaking to CBS News in a 1 July interview, Baker said the organisation’s current policy, which bars athletes assigned male at birth from competing in NCAA women’s sports while leaving men’s competition open to all eligible athletes, was adopted in response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump in early 2025.
“We adopted and comply with the standard that was put forth by the administration,” Baker said, adding that state-level policies are “a different question”.
The comments come days after the Supreme Court upheld laws in Idaho and West Virginia excluding transgender girls and women from female school sports, ruling that the bans do not violate Title IX, the federal law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. The decision is expected to have implications for similar laws already in force across more than two dozen US states, while legal challenges continue elsewhere.
During the interview, Baker was asked about the prominence of transgender participation in college sports. He previously told Congress in 2024 that he was aware of only 10 transgender athletes among the NCAA’s more than 500,000 student-athletes.
When asked whether the organisation’s current policy remains inclusive, Baker said he believed it did and added that he did not think “many of our schools” objected to the existing rules.
When asked where the subject of trans athletes ranked among other issues the NCAA is facing, Baker replied: “I can tell you that having talked to people on both sides of this issue – to those who are involved in it, it matters a lot.”
Baker continued, explaining that inclusivity is a priority of the NCAA, saying: “I don’t have a problem … with the way that policy currently operates. And frankly, I don’t think many of our schools do either.”
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