New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association legal counsel Steve Goodell affirmed the organization's transgender policy during Wednesday’s Executive Committee meeting, indicating there will be no immediate changes.
As reported by Darren Cooper of NorthJersey.com, this came despite President Donald Trump’s recent executive order that threatens to rescind funds from educational programs that allow transgender women and girls to compete in women's and girls' sports.
The NJSIAA policy, originally adopted in 2009 and amended in 2017, allows transgender athletes to compete in either the gender they identify with or the gender they were assigned at birth, but not both, and does not allow an athlete to switch sport genders during a season, Cooper reported.
The NJSIAA defines a transgender student as a student whose gender identity differs from the sex assigned at birth. It is up to the student to declare their gender identity before athletic competition in high school. No medical test is required, per Cooper's reporting.
NJSIAA rules state that the athlete's decision on gender identification must be made before they try out or practice with a team. A transgender athlete can’t try out for the boys' baseball team and then switch to softball if they are cut, for example.
A transgender male (one who was born female but identifies as male) can play girls' sports or boys' sports, but not both. "They could not play boys' basketball in the winter, then run track on the girls' team in the spring," Cooper wrote. "Likewise, a transgender female can’t play girls' soccer in the fall then play boys' lacrosse in the spring."
The policy also has a provision allowing schools to challenge the ability of a transgender athlete to compete if they feel the competition is adversely impacted.
“We have had no hearings, no controversies,” Goodell said. “No one has brought to our attention any transgender students. Our policy was designed to be consistent with state law.”
Goodell said that should a challenge come forth, it would be “between the school, student and state… the NJSIAA would not get involved in that dispute.”
Goodell said the NJSIAA has not kept records on the number of transgender athletes since the policy was first approved.
The NCAA banned transgender women from competing on women's teams earlier this month, shortly after Trump issued the executive order. The association's decision came two months after NCAA president Charlie Baker told a Senate committee that there are "less than 10" transgender athletes competing on NCAA teams.
