By Brianna Moynihan
The Bucs’ Blade
Grand Haven HS
1st Place
Division 1, News Writing
Sports News Story
The cold metallic clank of lockers closing, athletes of all shapes and sizes bustling about in various states of undress. For some, the locker rooms are an uncomfortable place. Particularly for those who do not feel they are in the right locker room, such as transgender athletes.
“Participation in sports shouldn’t mean feeling uncomfortable,” Athletic Director Scott Robertson said. “I want to make that a reality for those who play sports.”
Many states have established lengthy policies regarding transgender athletes. The Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) President, Jack Roberts, believes there is a balance when it comes to these policies.
“Other state high school associations across the countries have developed long and prescriptive policies,” Roberts said. “These almost preachy policies have had lots of controversy and we have had none.”
The MHSAA developed a policy five years ago regarding participation of trans-gender athletes. It is very limited, only addressing when a born male student is transitioning to a female. It is only called upon in post-season tournament play. Roberts believes the minimalist approach to these issues has been beneficial.
“I think part of the wisdom of our policy is that it doesn’t put barriers in front of students to participate,” Roberts said. “Our brevity and silence on so many of the thorny local issues is actually more of a help than a hindrance.”
The policy requires that various documentation, such as the sports physical, be provided to the MHSAA office when a male transitioning to a female wishes to play on a girls athletic team. The officials will then make a decision regarding the student’s eligibility.
“We try to be very factual,” Roberts said. “We look at what the actual documents say about the student. If they all line up male or female our decision is very simple.
The MHSAA will also look into other factors such as if the student has commenced testosterone suppressant therapy or undergone gender reassignment. Other policies and procedures that arise in these situations are strictly determined at the local level by the administration.
“We let schools determine locally how to manage the very tough issues,” Roberts said. “The toughest issues of all isn’t eligibility, it is locker rooms and supervision and those sorts of things. They are very difficult and schools need to answer those based on the kind of resources they have.”
The MHSAA has only had three cases where they have had to make a decision, but they have had countless discussions with schools and athletic directors on the matter.
“We help them prepare for the conversation locally by first sharing with them our policy and how limited it is and secondly reminding them what other issues might come up,” Roberts said.
Grand Haven currently does not have any policies in place regarding transgender athletes. But Robertson believes there must be a discussion before any rules are made.
“The topic itself is difficult to talk about,” Robertson said. “People want to be sensitive, because it is such unfamiliar territory. All of us have a certain level of ignorance and I would include myself because I have not walked that walked with anyone. If we avoid talking about it we aren’t going to make anything better, we won’t be able to find any common ground.”
Robertson believes that the born with biology of a student cannot create an inherent athletic advantage.
“Obviously it is a bit subjective,” Robertson said. “But I think common sense has to prevail at some point. If a person has a certain physical stature that would inherently lead it-self to a competitive advantage over females then that person should probably be competing with males. If the transformation was complete then we are obligated to let that person to compete with the gender that they are fully transitioned to.”
Sports serves to instill a sense of belong-ing in many students lives and it is the belief of the MHSAA and the athletic department that every student be given equal opportunity to compete in athletics.
“We would like to be able to facilitate as much participation as possible,” Roberts said. “We would like the schools to be the one to locally determine how to make that happen for their students.”