Competition is the essence of sports, competition fostered by a level playing field where athletes of similar abilities strive for success.

Leagues, conferences and divisions for all competitive sports are divided according to many criteria — again, all designed to congregate athletes and groups of athletes to cultivate competition.

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Criteria used to ensure level playing fields include age, skill level, resources available and size of the school or club sponsoring athletes and fielding teams.

One ultra-important criteria is gender.

At the beginning stage of youth leagues, boys and girls — rather than engaging in full-fledged competition — often play together as they learn the game before the natural trajectory of their biology differentiates size, strength and explosiveness. As they grow older, boys and girls sometimes continue to participate together in recreational sports, where the emphasis continues to focus on fun rather than competition.

But in competitive sports, when athletes reach late grade school or middle school and have learned the basics, gained skill and are beginning to grasp nuances of strategy, the focus shifts toward winning.

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At this stage — and beyond into high school, college, professional and Olympic sports — athletes and teams are divided by gender into tournaments and leagues to assure equitable competition. Men compete against men, and women against women.

This arrangement is natural and elemental for fair and engaging competition, and it has been the accepted norm in the United States and around the world.

However, the gender integrity of sports has been compromised across generations by those who would unbalance the playing field. The most prominent example historically is the East German and Soviet sports machine that churned out Olympic champions in the 1970s and '80s through systemic use of testosterone-boosting drugs, particularly in female athletes.

In recent years, athletes who were born as males but are using surgery and hormone therapy to transition to women sometimes seek to compete as women. Instances of this happening across the country are relatively few, but enough for many states to establish laws forbidding athletes born as biological males from competing in women's athletics.

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In Indiana, a 2022 law requires K-12 sports to be clearly designated for boys, girls or coed, with students born biologically male ineligible to compete as girls. New legislation in 2025 expanded the law to public and private colleges and universities in the state. An executive order by Gov. Mike Braun further defined gender on a strictly biological basis.

In late June, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling supporting such laws in Idaho and West Virginia and lending legal credence to similar laws in Indiana and other states.

While the rights of transgender people should be no less than those of other U.S. citizens, they should also be no greater. Men can't compete in sports designated for women, and neither should trans athletes born as biological males and maintaining many athletic advantages despite related surgery and therapy.

What options does that leave for trans athletes? They could compete as men or they could come together to form leagues and divisions pitting trans-athletes against one another. In Indiana, Stonewall Sports Indianapolis offers recreational leagues intended for LGBTQ+ people.

Sports is all about competition, striving to win. To assure a level playing field, competitive sports should continue to be divided strictly along biological gender lines.