High schools in the Tahoe-Truckee Unified School District — a mountainous, snow-prone area near the border with Nevada — have long competed in the Nevada Interscholastic Activities Association (NIAA), which has allowed the California sports teams to avoid frequent and potentially hazardous trips to competitions farther to the west.
Breaking from the previous approach of allowing individual schools to set their own standards, the NIAA voted in April to require students in sex-segregated sports programs to play on teams that align with their biology.
As California law permits male student athletes to play on females' teams, the move raised questions for how the Tahoe-Truckee district would remain in the Nevada association while following California law.
Though there are no known male student athletes competing in girls' high school sports in the Tahoe-Truckee Unified district, California's Department of Education is now requiring it to join the California Interscholastic Federation by the start of next school year.
This would allow "transgender" students to participate in athletics according to their so-called "gender identity," which puts the district in a difficult position. If it moves to the California federation, then Tahoe-Truckee teams will have to travel more often in bad weather across a risky mountain pass — about 7,000 feet (2,100 meters) in elevation above a lake — to reach schools farther from state lines.
Steve McConkey of 4 WINDS USA is familiar with the treacherous Donner Pass (pictured above) and fully understands why this change is concerning.
"During the winter, that area is known for inclement weather and dangerous road patterns," he tells AFN. "I'd be very concerned as a parent."
He recognizes the California Department of Education is making the change because Nevada schools will no longer allow men to play in women's sports. That is reportedly another point of concern for parents and students in the district.
"The federal government right now [is] really pushing to eliminate transgender athletes, so we know that at the top, the federal government is putting pressure on California," McConkey notes. "It's succeeded in some states, but it seems to be a continual battle to liberal judges and the liberal makeup of the state of California."
State Assemblymember Heather Hadwick, a Republican representing a large region of northern California bordering Nevada, does not think Tahoe-Truckee Unified should be forced to join the CIF and has urged California Department of Education and state officials to "fully consider the real-world consequences of this decision—not in theory, but on the ground—where weather, geography, and safety matter."
