Focus on Education
An SF liberal accepts some MAGA arguments:
What’s going on?
Trans Sports: A Closer Look
• • • • • • • • March 2025 • • • • • • • •
The headline above reflects a mistake too many people make. You are either with us or against us. You are either a flaming woke liberal or an ignorant nutcase conservative.
Not so.
Thinking fast and thinking slow
There are two basic ways people make decisions. Thinking fast and thinking slow. That’s the analysis of Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman.
Thinking fast is how we make emotional, stereotypic, unconscious decisions. Knee-jerk reactions. Thinking slow, on the other hand, takes more effort and analysis.
This issue is not hypothetical for me. My son has played on a girl’s team, and my daughter has played on a boy’s team. And I have played on women’s soccer teams against trans athletes.”
Unfortunately, we sometimes come up with quick simple answers to questions that require more complicated analysis.
Let’s take the controversy of whether trans athletes should play on girls’ sports teams.
The first reaction is emotional–on both sides of the political divide.
Liberal response: Of course, they should play on girls’ teams. We should never discriminate against trans athletes. Banning the athlete treats her as an outsider or misfit. This further traumatizes the trans athlete, who is already struggling with acceptance.
Conservative response: It’s not fair to give one team a competitive advantage and risk injury to students.
But my response is different.
I take the “think slow” approach: Analyze the issue. Don’t jump to conclusions.
This issue is not hypothetical for me. My son has played on a girl’s team, and my daughter has played on a boy’s team. And I have played on women’s soccer teams against trans athletes.
Undisputed fact: On average, adolescent boys and men are stronger, taller, and faster than girls.
I absolutely support trans athletes playing on girl’s teams … until they are bigger and stronger than most other girls.
The table below shows you the physical differences.
Normal Growth - Stanford Medicine Children’s Health
NCHS Data Brief Strength
Average Human Running Speeds - Insights by Age and Gender
There are no simple answers.
Conservative response:Ban all trans athletes from playing on a girl’s team. To heck with equity.
Liberal response: Allow all trans athletes to play on a girl’s team. To heck with competitive advantage and safety.
Neither approach makes sense.
A recommended approach:
- Recognize this is an issue of fairness and equity for both the trans athlete and the members of the girl’s team.
- For high school interscholastic sports, base the solution on the particular situation in junior and senior year of high school. That’s when the dramatic differences in strength, weight, and height can influence the outcome of the game and impact the safety of the students.
- For college sports, assess whether there will be competitive advantage or risk of injury.
- Understand that whatever the decision, people will be angry.
- Forget the political divide and rest your decision on what you think is best for all students.
Carol Kocivar is a children’s advocate and lives in the Westside. Feedback: kocivar(at)westsideobserver.com
February 2025
