I have a daughter who had a D1 volleyball full ride. I wondered how this issue would/could potentially affect her. So, I went looking for statistics. I have found a lot of opinion, but very few facts.
Here are a few facts. Multiple sources agree that .6% to .7% of American adults identify as transgender. This is fewer than 2 million American adults. Not that many.
Another fact: only 7% of high school athletes play a varsity sport in college. Less than 2% will play at D1 schools. Scholarship Stats.com states that it's 55:1 for men and 57:1 for women who play D1 after high school.
Looking at the factual statistics, very few trans individuals would make it to the D1 level.
This is a small number, and the very elite numbers are even smaller.
Lia, the trans swimmer, started a fire storm. I also saw a story about Chelsea Mitchell, a Connecticut high school runner.
Having watched volleyball for years and observing the differences between men and women and how they play, I know the physical advantage that men who have gone through puberty have over women in the sport.
What I did not know was what happens when a man transitions. What do the drugs do to him? How many years does one have to be on them in order to compete as a woman? Who makes these decisions? I wanted specifics: What does lack of testosterone do as far as strength, jumping ability, times, etc.?
I don't know because I could not find the statistics. There is a severe lack of information on these issues. How do we know what is fair when there is nothing but feelings and emotions to make a decision?
Lia won the national title, but Katie Ledecky still holds the world record. Mitchell lost to two trans girls in 2021, but beat both of them in 2020. Do these facts make a difference?
Title IX did so much for women. The argument now is that transgender women will ruin it for women such as my daughter. Maybe it will. Maybe it won't. Until hard evidence is available, opinions will prevail.
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