Beyond the Labels: The role of high school athletics

Editor's Note: This article is the fourth in a series about transgender athletes in track and field and the issues surrounding their participation in the sport. Today, we look at the role of high schools sports as a vehicle for growth and development, and also where the issue is headed in the future.  

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

It’s a late afternoon in February at the Floyd Little Athletic Center in New Haven, Conn.

The anchor leg on the Bloomfield High girls 4x400-meter relay has crossed the finish line, capturing third place in the final event at the CT State Open Track and Field Championships.

Her teammates make their way to the finish area, and the four embrace one another. For this instant, it wasn’t about winning the race, but rather soaking in a moment of friendship and teamwork.

The emphasis of high school athletics, by state and national administrators, has shifted over the past few years. It can be seen in the schedules for state championship meets across the country, where the number of wheelchair, para and unified races are multiplying every year. 

In Connecticut, where two transgender girls, Terry Miller of Bloomfield, and Andraya Yearwood of Cromwell, are competing on girls teams, there is growing intensity on both sides of the discussion about which threads are most essential in the fabric of high school sports.

The Connecticut Interscholastic Association Conference, which follows state law and allows transgender student-athletes to participate with the gender they identify with, has come under fire by those who disagree with the policy. Many want rules in place to make a fair playing field for everyone, requiring medical intervention for transgender high school females. Others stand firmly behind the word “inclusivity.”

Dr. Karissa Niehoff, the executive director of the National Federation of State High School Associations, holds the view that high school athletics are first and foremost education-based programs.

“These are opportunities for kids to engage in activities that certainly are about the sport itself, but also above and beyond the sport. You’ve got so many life lessons and skill sets that can be developed then they (adolescents) absolutely need to be successful and be a good contributing citizen,” Niehoff said. “So obviously you’re learning to work with people, you’re learning about collaboration, you’re learning about dealing with difficult situations, you’re learning to compete, you’re learning to win and lose, you’re learning to be supportive of one another.”

A pivotal part of a young person's life

For Alex Myers, transgender boys playing on his girls junior varsity ice hockey team was normal.

“I had transgender boys playing on my ice hockey team because they couldn’t medically transition,” he said. “There’s no way they would ever make the boys ice hockey team, but they wanted to play ice hockey and felt socially comfortable on the girls ice hockey team.” 

Myers is well-versed in the topic of transgender student-athletes in high school sports and the importance they provide beyond the physical aspect. In 1995, Myers became the first transgender student at Phillips Exeter Academy in Massachusetts. Athletics were an area of comfort for him.

Now, in his role as an educator at Exeter, he’s an advocate helping transgender student-athletes navigate the varying issues they face.

“The most important thing is if you want to play sports, that you can join a team that feels right for you, socially comfortable for you,” Myers said. “In high school we’re talking about people who are socially transitioning, so sports are a part of that."

Niehoff echoed that sentiment, explaining that for many adolescents, their first engagement to the life of the school is through sports. That’s a pivotal hook.  

“When they are engaged in something that means they are open to learning,” Niehoff said. “They are demonstrating intention.”

Is this just about winning and losing?

The 2018-19 numbers for the state of Connecticut, say a total of 24,115 student-athletes have participated in indoor and outdoor high school track, according to Matt Fischer, Director of Technology Services at the CIAC. Among that number, there’s no way to know how many transgender students are competing on either male or female teams, CIAC Executive Director Glenn Lungarini said.

“An important distinction is that transgender is not a gender or sex category,” Lungarini said. “When a Connecticut student registers in a school, the options for gender or sex category are male or female. As such, when student-athletes are designated on a sports roster, they are listed as male or female. However, given that the CIAC policy has existed for more than a decade, I believe it is fair to suggest that transgender students have competed in CIAC events without issue because they did not win.” 

A group that opposes the CIAC view on the matter feels that without medical intervention, the idea of two biological boys running against cis females creates a predictable and unfair outcome, especially in a strength event like the 100 meters.

“I think it’s unfair to the girls who work really hard to do well and qualify for Opens and New Englands. These girls, they’re just coming in and beating everyone. I have no problem with them wanting to be a girl,” said Selina Soule, a track runner from Glastonbury High in Glastonbury, in an interview with the Hartford Courant.

Soule's words resonate with many people and it takes courage to express them publicly. 

In a sport like track and field, which is built around self-improvement while mastering an event, some argue that the real competition is with the clock, not the person in the lane next to you.   

“One of the parents I talked to who is constantly arguing against us, she had commented, ‘We know that there are other transgender kids participating, but we don’t care about them,’” Lungarini said. 

Connecticut isn't the only place where transathletes have sparked controversy. Last year in Texas, a wrestler named Mack Beggs won a girls state title for the second year in a row. 

Just last weekend at the NCAA D2 Outdoor Track and Field Championships, a biological male named Cece Telfer from Franklin Pierce University of New Hampshire won the women's 400 meters title.  

Where is this issue headed?

Right now, there is no universal rule for all high school associations to follow for transathletes. Policies vary from state to state. Niehoff said she believes that there will be a movement across the country to accomodate transgender athletes and respect gender identity.   

Myers echoed Niehoff sentiments. He said he has seen an increase of transgender kids coming out younger and younger.

“I see that’s there’s going to be an increasing number of high school programs that are going to have to handle this,” he said. “And I further see that they are going to have transgender athletes that have transitioned young and have started to some degree of medical transition, so the policies are going to have to accommodate those students on the teams to which the gender they’ve reassigned.”

On May 17, the Equality Act, a bill that would add “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected classes under federal civil rights law passed the U.S. House of Representatives. The bill is awaiting consideration in the Senate.

“Our states are nationally about supporting kids, recognizing mental health, recognizing issues of discrimination, bullying and hazing. We’re just not into rule making about competition itself for transgender,” Niehoff said.