Sport can be transformative. It hones fine motor skills, teamwork and discipline. Sports help us through major life upheavals, provides safety nets and creates community. For women, sports can be especially empowering. An Ernst & Young report found that 94% of C-suite women were athletes. Women’s sport certainly needs our collective help, but banning trans athletes is not it.

There are fewer than 10 NCAA trans athletes and as many as 160 in high school nationally. Trans women do not compete on women’s teams because they “failed” in men’s sports. They are transgender outside of sports, not because of it. Blocking trans athletes does irrevocable harm to a token few while doing nothing to “save women’s sports” as its proponents argue. If it really is about protecting girls and women, as a ciswoman, and a former international rower and professional backcountry skier, I have a few suggestions:

• Fight for equal pay. The average WNBA player earns 1.55% of the average NBA salary.
• Demand our successes be covered. Just 4% of sports media coverage is on women. They can start by following us on social media.
• Believe us. As many as 74% of elite female athletes have experienced sexual abuse, and many face predatory coaches whose behavior is upheld by national sporting bodies and academic institutions.
• Support female coaches. Eighty percent of coaches at the high school and collegiate level are male.
• Insist on safety. Women are often forced to settle for less safe equipment than men’s teams.

Susana Hancock
Freeport