The College Fix

Says association’s stance discriminates against female student athletes

A NCAA leader resigned this month after saying he grew frustrated with the association’s decision to allow male student athletes who identify as transgender females to compete in women’s sports.

William Bock III, who has served on the association’s Committee on Infractions since 2016, announced his resignation in a letter Feb. 9 to NCAA President Charlie Baker, the Washington Examiner reports.

A prominent sports attorney from Indiana, Bock said he used to believe the athletics association was dedicated to “competitive fairness and protection of equal opportunities for student-athletes.”

“This conviction has changed as I have watched the NCAA double down on regressive policies which discriminate against female student-athletes,” he wrote.

Bock said he became increasingly concerned after former University of Pennsylvania swimmer William “Lia” Thomas, a male who identifies as female, won an NCAA Division I championship on the women’s team in 2022.

“If I’m there in a sport integrity role when there’s massive, essentially authorized, cheating taking place and dramatically harming women — it’s just a contradiction,” he wrote. “I just felt like I couldn’t seem to do that any longer and needed to resign with the hope that maybe [it] will cause other people to look at the issue more closely.”

The Examiner reports:

Bock cited the NCAA’s three-phase participation policy, which it began implementing in January 2022, that would allow transgender student-athletes to play in their desired sports so long as they met certain requirements. Among those requirements is documentation that proves testosterone levels were below the maximum allowable levels for any given sport.

However, Bock rejected that policy, arguing much of the biological development that occurs before and around the time of puberty puts biological men at an advantage even if they are required to suppress testosterone levels before competition.

Bock’s resignation received praise from Riley Gaines, one of the female athletes who competed on the UPenn team with Thomas.

"NCAA official resigns in protest of transgender policies that ‘discriminate against female student-athletes’"

More of this 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼https://t.co/0WJDJ8PldX

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) February 13, 2024

Among other concerns, Gaines testified to Congress last year that she and her teammates had to undress in the same locker room as Thomas, and NCAA officials refused to intervene.

The conservative legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom also responded with praise to the news of Bock’s resignation.

“This is the kind of courage we need for women and girls,” ADF wrote Wednesday on X. “Let’s see more people in positions of power standing up for female athletes, and for reality.”

The NCAA did not immediately return a request for comment from The College Fix, asking about its committee member’s resignation and its transgender athlete policies.

MORE: ‘I feel betrayed’: Swimmer denounces NCAA for letting Lia Thomas dominate

IMAGE: News Channel 8

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