A closer look into the reasons why Keene State College has gendered sports teams
There are several complications within sports. We live in a society where individuals are assigned a gender at birth, but many individuals do not identify with what they were assigned.
Some athletes don’t associate with a gender at all. Some associate themselves with the opposite of what they were born with. Some are even what is considered fluid, where they may be male one day and female another. As one might imagine, the NCAA has specific requirements when it comes to inclusivity and who is able to compete in specific sports and teams.
Abe Osheyack, the Assistant Athletic Director, works a lot with ensuring NCAA compliance. Osheyack mentioned that all sports, with the exception of cheerleading here at Keene State, are NCAA sponsored, meaning teams compete for the chance to go to the NCAA championship for that sport.
We have baseball which is primarily men, and field hockey and softball which is primarily for women. These teams may compete and practice together, but have separate seasons and according to the NCAA, are considered different sports. Osheyack also mentioned KSC has women’s volleyball, and NCAA does offer men’s volleyball but we don’t currently offer a sponsored team for men’s volleyball here at Keene State. “I think this is something colleges are looking at. More women are going to college than men, so offering these sports is an opportunity to increase enrollment,” said Osheyack.
During Osheyack’s time here at Keene State, there was a student athlete who was assigned female at birth and is now identifying as male. There are certain processes that are required through the NCAA that go along with the transition to the other gender, prior to being eligible to compete. “There’s often a process that can take 6 months to a year, before competitions can be approved through the NCAA,” said Osheyack.
Often, the college would work with students who identify as a different gender from their assigned gender at birth to understand what treatments may be required, prior to competing on the teams associated with those genders. Testosterone, a hormone that stimulates male development, requires a medical exemption prior to being used and competing. This is to ensure that no one is inserting anything in their body that may be dangerous.
“People may identify as a gender other than what they identify as at birth, but they are still able to compete with their assigned gender as long as the guidelines from the NCAA are met. And once the requirements are met for them to compete with their identity, the individual would be able to compete on that team instead,” said Osheyack. “There should not be a roadblock to a student’s ability to compete other than their own personal fitness. If someone is healthy enough and capable enough, they should be able to compete.”
Osheyack also noted there was an old campaign from the NCAA, known as “If You Can Play, You Can Play”, that he was unable to find but would have loved to share information from for this article.
Phil Racicot, Director of Athletics, touched a bit on how there is a line between specific genders playing specific sports. “It’s a matter of health, safety, wellbeing, and competitive nature. But this year, across the country there have been several girls playing football. This is something you didn’t see ten years ago. A lot of it has to do with tradition. If there’s a young woman who wants to play baseball, she should be able to do that,” Racicot also mentioned that there are some sports that exist elsewhere that we don’t have here. He mentioned men’s field hockey is popular in Europe, but is not very common in the United States.”Boys don’t grow up playing field hockey, but maybe they will in the future. It is not common around here on the male gender side,” said Racicot.
Hunter Kirschner, the Coordinator of LGBTQ Student Support also had a lot to say about transgender athletes and NCAA requirements. “It’s very much in line with hormones, in terms of eligibility. Assumptions are being made based on their hormone makeup. Testosterone can generate more upper body strength so it can be seen as an advantage,” Kirschner said.
There are also some complications for transgender individuals who may not use any medical treatment. Not all trans individuals decide to take hormone replacement therapies or medically transition.
“For the NCAA, they want students who were not assigned female at birth and want to compete. But for this to happen, there needs to be some intervention with their testosterone production. In many cases this is a year of hormone replacement therapy, before trans women would be able to compete on women’s teams. Conversely, trans masculine folks can compete on either a men’s or women’s team until they have been on hormone replacement therapy for a year,” said Kirschner. “It’s so medically based, there’s this fear that it won’t be fair.”
Kirschner also touched upon how as a state institution, Keene State is open and attempting to ensure access to anyone wishing to participate in athletics. Kirschner said there was a transgender student athlete at KSC a few years ago who has since graduated. Kirschner elaborated on this student’s experience in the athletic program.
“I do think Keene did what we could to be supportive of a trans athlete. The individual experience isn’t just about access, but also the dynamic about competing. Someone may come out while on campus, but still be competing with their sex assigned at birth. Along with their gender transition, they wanted to change the team they were participating with. Keene was able to assist them with understanding the expectations of competing with the men’s team and help them develop those skills,” said Kirschner.
Kirschner added that the wellness center, as well as the Office of Multicultural Student Support and Success, is available to anyone wishing to speak with someone about their identity, and the resources Keene State has to offer.
“We as an institution are following through with ensuring that students have access, commitment, belonging, and inclusion here. There’s also KSC Pride. This stuff is confusing, and depending on where you are in your development or transition you may have different needs. But we have that support system offered for everyone,” said Kirschner.
[Full Disclosure: Sparkle Woodward has worked with Hunter Kirschner]
Sparkle Woodward can be contacted at
