By On Nov. 6, all student-athletes attending Carroll were sent an email from Charlie Gross Carroll’s athletic director, and Maddie Geritz, a sixth-year women’s basketball player and also head of the Student Athletic Advisory Council, regarding transgender athletes in NAIA sports.
The Prospector contacted Charlie Gross, Carroll Colleges Athletic Director to get insight on what may occur within the next few years.
Is the NAIA considering allowing transgender athletes to participate in sports?
“The NAIA has created a Transgender Task Force which reports to the Council of Presidents, the governing body of the NAIA,” Gross said. “The task force has been charged with developing policies about the participation of transgender student-athletes in the sports that the NAIA sponsors to bring before the membership”
What will Carroll be doing with the responses they received?
“We will not see the responses from our student-athletes. The survey responses go directly to the NAIA,” Gross said. “The NAIA will provide the results to the task force which will then report to the Council of Presidents”
Are other NAIA programs also doing a survey?
“The survey was distributed by the NAIA national office and sent to all NAIA institutions in hopes that they would share it with their student-athletes. I do not know if all athletic departments shared the survey with their student-athletes.” Gross said.
What are Carroll’s thoughts on the matter?
“Carroll is very supportive of the discussions that are taking place on transgender participation at the National level,” Gross said. “We will take our direction or policy development and practices from the NAIA. I expect more clarification from the NAIA this spring at the national meeting.”
What do the next steps look like? Will transgender athletes be joining NAIA sports?
“New legislation (policies and procedures that govern the NAIA) is presented annually at the NAIA national meeting, hosted in the month of April,” Gross said. “I would expect transgender policies to be put before the membership at this year’s meeting. New legislation is approved with a majority vote by the membership.”
Currently, there is no word yet if transgender athletes will be participating in Carroll’s sports or surrounding communities.
April will be the next NAIA presidential meeting where they will discuss and potentially decide if transgender athletes will be participating in NAIA sports.
