Former Kentucky swimming legend and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines is blasting the NCAA for refusing to meet with female athletes impacted by the infiltration of trans athletes in women’s sports.
“In 2010, they implemented a blanket policy for all sports. [Claiming that after] 12 months of HRT hormone replacement therapy, you could compete in the category that aligns with your gender identity. Now, what the NCAA is doing is they’re in a phase-out approach. Essentially, they want nothing to do with the policy, which shows how cowardly, really, they are,” Gaines told Fox and Friends on Sunday.
Gaines continued, “It shows they know this is wrong, and now they’re leaving it up to each specific sport to make rules for that sport.”
Former collegiate swimmer Riley Gaines (L) testifies during a House Oversight Subcommittee on Health Care and Financial Services hearing on Capitol Hill on December 5, 2023, in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The strong words come on the heels of Gaines’ efforts and dozens of other female athletes petitioning the college sports governing body to meet with them and make them a part of the rule-changing process. At the 2024 NCAA Convention in Phoenix, Gaines handed officials a letter signed by dozens of former female athletes stressing their desire to meet with NCAA officials to express their concerns on the trans issue.
This wasn’t the first time female athletes had expressed their desire to meet with NCAA leadership.
“We went back this year to do the exact same thing because, over the course of this past year, the NCAA hasn’t changed their policies and, as mentioned, women continue to be discriminated against on the basis of our sex,” Gaines told Fox News’ Will Cain.
“The people I delivered, the people on the governing board who had delivered the petition and the letter to me, even look me in the eyes, which is pretty disheartening as a female athlete.”
Specifically, Gaines mentioned her desire to meet with NCAA President Charlie Baker, who assumed office early last year.
Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker speaks during the Massachusetts Conference for Women 2017 at the Boston Convention Center on December 7, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Marla Aufmuth/Getty Images for Massachusetts Conference for Women)
“I know President Baker testified before the Senate a few weeks ago that changes are being made and that changes have been made, but that’s not what we’re seeing. We’re still seeing the NCAA continue to discriminate against women on the basis of our sex. It’s happening in just about every sport, every level, every division, every state — that’s why we’re here,” she said.
When he testified before Congress in October, Baker distanced himself from the chaos surrounding the Lia Thomas issue in 2022 and said it would not happen again.
“I’m not going to defend what happened in 2022,” Baker said. “I wasn’t there. I was still governor of the Commonwealth. What I will say is we have very specific rules and standards around the safety and security of all our student-athletes, and anyone who hosts one of our national championships has to accept that they know what they are and then abide by them accordingly.”
He added, “I don’t believe that policy would be the policy we would use today.”