Protecting Fairness, Privacy, and the Future of Girls’ Sports

I am a Nevada County resident, a graduate of Nevada Union High School, the father of two daughters, and the grandfather of a young granddaughter. I have spent my life immersed in sports, first as a participant in both single-sex and coed competitions, including sailing, beach volleyball, ultimate frisbee, and frisbee golf, and later as a parent and observer. I capped my athletic career with three Ironman World Championship finishes in Kona, Hawaii. Sports taught me discipline, resilience, respect for rules, and respect for competitors. Just as importantly, they taught me that fairness is not incidental to athletics; it is the foundation that makes competition meaningful.

The Importance of Women’s Sports and Title IX

That principle of fairness is why women’s sports matter. The opportunities girls enjoy today exist because generations of women fought for equal access, funding, and respect. Title IX was not a symbolic gesture; it was a corrective to a system that routinely excluded girls and women from athletics and educational opportunity. Progress did not end with its passage. Women have continued to press for equal treatment from facilities and coaching to equal pay in professional sports, including recent gains in tennis, soccer, cycling, and the Olympics. These advances were hard-won, and they remain fragile.

The Current National Debate

That legacy now intersects with a national debate as the Supreme Court considers whether states may maintain sex-based categories in publicly funded school sports when participation is challenged by transgender-identifying athletes. While the legal arguments involve constitutional provisions and federal statutes, the underlying question is practical and immediate for families across rural California: how to protect fairness, safety, and privacy for adolescent girls while treating all students with dignity and respect.

Inclusion vs. Fairness: Reframing the Debate

Much of this debate is framed as a conflict between inclusion and exclusion. That framing is misleading. Inclusion is not achieved by erasing the very category that made girls’ sports possible. Nor is fairness a form of discrimination. In athletics, rules exist precisely because bodies differ. We separate competitors by age, weight class, and sex not to demean anyone, but to ensure that effort, skill, and training, not biology—determine outcomes. Without those guardrails, competition loses its meaning, and participation suffers.

The Role of Science and Biology in Youth Sports

Science matters in this conversation, especially when we are talking about young athletes. Before puberty, boys and girls can compete on largely equivalent terms, and girls often outperform boys in skill-based and endurance activities. But adolescence brings profound physical changes. Around ages 13 to 14, many girls experience hormonal and developmental shifts that can make staying engaged in sports more challenging. Coaches and parents know this is a critical period when girls often step away from athletics due to confidence, body changes, or social pressures.

After puberty, male-puberty physiology introduces predictable advantages in muscle mass, bone density, lung capacity, and overall strength. These differences are not ideological; they are biological. When teenage girls are asked to compete directly against athletes who have gone through male puberty, the playing field is no longer level. Even small physiological advantages can determine outcomes, affect safety, and send a discouraging message to girls already at risk of dropping out of sports. Ignoring these realities does not advance equality, it undermines it at precisely the age when female participation needs the most protection.

Challenges Facing Schools and Districts

Schools are being asked to manage these realities in an increasingly complex legal environment. Administrators must comply with federal law to preserve Title IX protections and funding. They must safeguard student privacy in locker rooms and bathrooms. They must provide meaningful athletic opportunities for girls while responding to students who identify as transgender or non-binary. At the same time, they face the real risk of litigation from multiple directions. These are not abstract concerns; they are daily operational challenges for public schools across California.

The Local Impact: Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District

The current situation in the Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District brings these issues into sharp focus. TTUSD is being required by the California Department of Education to leave the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association and join the California Interscholastic Federation because Nevada’s rules recognize biological sex in athletics. The result is not only a loss of local decision-making, but new concerns about winter travel, scheduling disruptions, and reduced opportunities for student-athletes. What is presented as an inclusion mandate has, in practice, created uncertainty for families who simply want their daughters to compete safely and on fair terms.

Unique Pressures in Rural Mountain Communities

In rural, mountain communities like Tahoe-Truckee and Nevada County, these pressures are magnified. Smaller districts have fewer resources, limited budgets, and little access to specialized legal staff. Unclear or shifting guidance forces administrators into impossible positions, where any decision risks legal exposure or community division. What schools need most is clarity—rules that are understandable, enforceable, and grounded in objective criteria rather than constantly changing definitions.

Compounding the challenge is the expectation that schools tailor competitive athletic eligibility rules to an expanding array of gender identities. Public schools are not equipped legally, administratively, or practically to create and enforce athletic categories based on subjective self-identification. Attempting to do so invites inconsistent enforcement, erodes trust, and exposes districts to serious legal and financial risk. More importantly, it shifts attention away from the girls Title IX was specifically designed to protect.

A Balanced Path Forward

There is a more balanced and defensible path forward. Policies grounded in objective, puberty-linked criteria acknowledge biological reality without denying anyone’s dignity. Maintaining female-only sports categories after puberty preserves fairness and safety for girls, while allowing schools to offer reasonable accommodations such as non-competitive participation, private changing areas, or alternative athletic opportunities for students who do not fit neatly within traditional categories. This approach is humane, workable, and consistent with the original intent of Title IX.

The Supreme Court and the Need for Clarity

The Supreme Court appears poised to consider a narrow ruling that would affirm the legitimacy of sex-based athletic categories while leaving room for practical accommodations. Such a decision would avoid sweeping mandates while giving schools the clarity they need to act responsibly. For communities like ours, that clarity matters. It allows local schools to focus on education and student well-being rather than constant legal uncertainty.

Stewardship for Future Generations

As a father, I have watched my daughters grow up with opportunities my mother’s generation never had. As a grandfather, I think about what my granddaughter will inherit. Will girls’ sports remain a place where young women can compete, build confidence, and learn resilience on fair terms? Or will well-intentioned but poorly grounded policies erode the protections generations of women fought to secure?

The fight for equal opportunity in sports is not over, and it will not end with this Supreme Court decision. Progress has been real, but it has never been linear. Preserving women’s sports is not an act of exclusion—it is an act of stewardship. It honors the women who fought for these opportunities, supports the girls competing today, and safeguards a future in which my granddaughter, and others like her, can compete on fair and meaningful terms.