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Tim Buckley, Senior Vice President of External Affairs – tbuckley@ncaa.org
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Scott Bearby, Senior Vice President & Chief Legal Officer – sbearby@ncaa.org
Dear Mr. Bearby and Mr. Buckley:
I am an athlete and a beneficiary of the opportunities Title IX provides.
I believed that with Title IX in 1972, women and girls had secured the right to their own sports and to a level playing field. I was caught off guard when males were allowed to enter women’s sports.
Your organization has misled me and many others by saying there are “only 10” transgender athletes in the NCAA. Evidence from the last two years shows that is not true. Even one male in women’s sports destroys fairness. Using ideological language that denies the reality of sex has no place in sports and harms women’s equal opportunities.
I am not alone—athletes and our supporters across the country are waking up, and the NCAA is not off the hook when it comes to returning women’s sports to women. Your job is not finished.
I write to demand that the NCAA repeal its discriminatory “transgender eligibility policy” and start over.
To restore fair competition to women athletes, the NCAA must:
Restore Fair Categories Based on Sex
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Eliminate “gender identity” and “transgender” language from all policies.
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Eligibility must be based on sex, weight classes, and other objective criteria relevant to competition.
Restore Records and Recognition to Female Athletes
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Correct past records, rankings, and titles where women were displaced by male-bodied athletes.
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Publicly acknowledge the women whose achievements were erased and the harm done to those women.
Implement Reliable Sex Verification
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Implement testing for sex in order to protect women’s sports, just as you do for doping. This policy recognizes the realities of physical performance, follows the science and prioritizes athlete safety.
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Require non-invasive, reliable genetic sex testing (e.g., cheek swab) during standard athlete physicals.
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A simple non-invasive, one-time cheek swab can provide the necessary transparency, just as it does for other tests to measure other performance enhancing advantages.
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Do not rely on falsifiable documents such as birth certificates or legal sex markers.
Protect Women’s Spaces and Privacy
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Prohibit males from women’s locker rooms, bathrooms, showers, and overnight accommodations.
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Ensure coaches disclose if male practice players are used, and restrict them from benefits, scholarships, or headcounts designated for women’s teams.
Protect Coaching and Leadership Roles
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Bar males from coaching women’s teams under the guise of being female.
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Ensure women are never subordinated to men misrepresenting themselves in positions of authority.
Guarantee Medical Transparency and Consent
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Require trainers, doctors, and physical therapists to disclose their sex to female athletes.
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Ensure female athletes have the right to decline treatment or care from male staff in a pressure-free environment.
Use Reality-Based Language
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In all policy statements and communications, use accurate terms: male, female, man, woman, boy, girl.
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Desist using ideological terms such as “gender identity” and “transgender.”
Acknowledge Harm and Commit to Reform
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Publicly affirm that current practices are unjust and abusive to female athletes.
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Establish an NCAA liaison dedicated to women’s rights and fair competition. The NCAA liaison should be charged with producing an annual report on progress, including, but not limited to: compliance with Title IX and progress towards restoring fair competition, NIL compensation to women athletes, proportion of women coaching women’s teams, reporting to SafeSport on athlete abuse and status of women’s athletic facilities.
Prevent Exploitation of Women’s Resources
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Male practice players must be treated as support staff, not athletes.
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They should not compete for women’s scholarships, benefits, or coaching time.
Legal and Ethical Responsibility
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Recognize the NCAA’s ethical, legal, and fiduciary duty to protect female athletes.
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Implement immediate policy changes or face accountability through lawsuits and public loss of credibility.
The NCAA immediately needs to change its policies.
I expect a reply and can be reached at this email address.
Sincerely,
