USA Volleyball bans transgender athletes to comply with Trump executive order

USA Volleyball (USAV) has become the latest organization to change its gender eligibility policy to align itself with President Donald Trump‘s executive order aimed at barring transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports. 

The latest policy change, which takes effect immediately, states that all members of USAV “are expected to participate or compete in all USAV-sanctioned events or activities as a member of the gender assigned at the time of birth on their birth certificate.”

The change effectively bans transgender athletes from competition as a response to the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC), which quietly updated its guidance on Monday to require that all national sports governing bodies comply with the president’s executive order. 

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“As a federally chartered organization, we have an obligation to comply with federal expectations,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland and President Gene Sykes wrote in a letter. “Our revised policy emphasizes the importance of ensuring fair and safe competition environments for women. All National Governing Bodies are required to update their applicable policies in alignment.”

USA Fencing was one of the first organizations to announce this week that it was updating its gender eligibility policy to comply with the USOPC’s new guidance. USAV followed suit on Thursday, adding that the change puts the organization “into compliance” with federal law. 

USAV’s previous gender eligibility policy for the 2024-2025 season previously stated that the “vast majority of athletes are expected to compete as a member of the gender assigned at the time of birth on their birth certificate.” However, transgender athletes were permitted to compete in USAV-sanctioned events if they met certain criteria. 

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That requirement list included informing USAV at least six weeks prior to competition, a statement “that they wish to compete in the gender opposite that of their birth,” another statement from a treating physician, including medical records, and lab reports of testosterone levels for any athletes over the age of 13. 

For the last requirement, athletes assigned male at birth wishing to compete in women’s events were required to prove that testosterone levels did not exceed “the upper limit of the normal female reference range for their age group.” For adults over 18, testosterone levels were to be “less than 10 nmol/L for a minimum of 1 year prior” prior to the competition or event. 

The new policy change strictly limits athletes to competitions that align with the gender on their original birth certificate. It will apply to all USAV-sanctioned events in the U.S. 

The president signed the “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” executive order on Feb. 5. Since then, several sports governing bodies have taken action to comply with the federal law. The NCAA was the first, announcing a policy change the day after Trump signed the order. 

Following a months-long investigation, the University of Pennsylvania also made changes, and at least 24 states have implemented legislation banning transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

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