My entire high school life I worked to achieve the prized title of “NCAA athlete.” But now, through a series of regulatory decisions, the almighty organization that controls college sports has drained the title of its honor.
In elementary school, I spent hours outside my house learning to overhand serve a volleyball. I was hooked. By the end of middle school, I decided I was willing to make significant sacrifices to extend my volleyball career into college and hopefully earn a scholarship.
This was no easy feat! I spent most of my free time in the gym or traveling to tournaments, never attended prom and missed several vacations.
The distinguished title of NCAA athlete carried weight; you were a hard worker and willing to sacrifice for a team — but I had to prove it.
Now, as an NCAA athlete, I wake up at 4 a.m. for practice, work diligently in the classroom, lift weights, condition, do homework, repeat. In season, I miss family weddings, spend late night hours on the bus desperately trying to complete the day’s assignments, study the other team’s film, report to school early for preseason, and make sure I maintain eligibility requirements – including not using prohibited drugs.
College athletes are also required to hold to a standard in representing their school and compete at the highest level. Why? Because that’s what it means to be an NCAA athlete: You’re sacrificial. You’re disciplined. You’re resilient.
Now, the NCAA is disregarding the rules that once made this title special, denying the title of its assumed dignity.
The organization now regulates by prioritizing the feelings and whims of the athlete over the disciplined nature of athletics.
The most obvious of these decisions? Exempting athletes who identify as transgender from the fundamental rule of sex-separated sports — that you have to play according to your sex.
This alarming move enables males to rob female athletes of titles and scholarships and places girls in dangerous situations that enable opportunities for assault. Though a male biological advantage used to reign, the rules, no matter how established, must bow to the new agenda and turn on blinders to biological truth.
The NCAA’s unwillingness to protect their female athletes speaks volumes about where their priorities lie. They are more than happy to champion a male athlete hopping over established sex-based protections of women in pursuit of his own goals and dominate the sport. But it doesn’t stop there.
Most recently, the NCAA Committee on Competitive Safeguards and Medical Aspects of Sports suggested the association remove bans on athletes’ use of cannabis. These athletes wake up at 4 a.m. for morning practices, travel across the country to compete at their best, and represent their institutions, but will no longer be held to a coherent standard?
So not only will I be forced to compete against a male, but also an athlete who is stoned?
This is absurd!
These standards used to speak to the professional capabilities of those wearing the NCAA logo. As an employer, if you read a resume with “NCAA athlete” on it, you could assume a lot of wonderful things about the applicant. However, the NCAA is loosening its standards, driving the title to meaninglessness.
When reading my resume, “NCAA athlete” is one of the very first points. This was not an easy achievement, but one I thought would be worth the sacrifice. At one time, it was a true testament to my work ethic, resiliency and willingness to sacrifice for the good of a team. Now, someone could earn a title because of their unwillingness to play with their biological sex, or constantly place themselves in an intoxicated state.
Don’t get me wrong — I have loved my time playing for my school. Playing in front of a home crowd, pre-game dance parties, cheering so hard you lose your voice, road trips, proving to myself I can do something no matter how hard I convince myself otherwise. These things will change me for the better!
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However, I can’t honestly believe the NCAA is working in the interest of the athletes within it. In fact, they are doing just the opposite.
As a Young Women for America Ambassador, I have had the opportunity to share my story of having to play against a male athlete who identified as transgender in the media, before the speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives and legislatures around the country. I have been very vocal throughout my collegiate career.
Earlier this year I stood with former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines in Texas as she hand-delivered a petition filled with thousands of female athletes’ and parents’ signatures pleading for the NCAA’s respect and protection. But in their allegiance to the transgender agenda, the organization continues to turn a blind eye to the cries from within.
They simply do not care. They have prioritized identity politics over standards, safety, and respect of competition and its hard-working athletes.
Degrading the dignity of the program devalues the work and sacrifices the athletes, including myself, have already put in — essentially placing our well-being on the back burner once again.
