PIAA to follow Trump’s order barring transgender athletes from girls sports

By: Chris Harlan
Thursday, February 6, 2025 | 6:19 PM

Purchase Photo Options

The PIAA, which has allowed transgender high school athletes to compete in its state championships, will heed a presidential executive order barring them from women’s and girls sports.

“We are tracking and assessing the law as it evolves and encourage all member schools to do the same,” PIAA executive director Bob Lombardi said in a statement Thursday. “PIAA will comply with the law as established.”

President Donald Trump on Wednesday signed the executive order, titled “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.” Under the order, recipients of federal funding must adhere to the Title IX guidelines of the Trump Administration, which interprets “sex” as the gender assigned at birth.

The executive order directed federal agencies to prioritize Title IX enforcement against “educational institutions” and “athletic associations” that deny female students “an equal opportunity to participate in sports and athletic events by requiring them … to compete with or against or to appear unclothed before males.”

Transgender athletes have been allowed to compete in PIAA girls sports if that athlete’s school identified the student as a girl. The PIAA policy on gender identity consists of one sentence in the bylaws: “Where a student’s gender is questioned or uncertain, the decision of the principal as to the student’s gender will be accepted by PIAA.”

The PIAA does not have a specific policy regarding transgender athletes.

That lack of a PIAA policy faced increased scrutiny two years ago when the state track and field championships included a transgender girl on the medal stand for the first time. Several PIAA committees later discussed the situation but made no policy changes.

The NCAA on Thursday announced changes to its participation policy for transgender athletes. Effective immediately, the NCAA said it would limit women’s sports to athletes “assigned female at birth only.”

“We strongly believe that clear, consistent and uniform eligibility standards would best serve today’s student-athletes instead of a patchwork of conflicting state laws and court decisions,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement. “To that end, President Trump’s order provides a clear, national standard.”

Chris Harlan is a TribLive reporter covering sports. He joined the Trib in 2009 after seven years as a reporter at the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at charlan@triblive.com.