The California Interscholastic Federation has invited girls who failed to make the cut to participate in next weekend’s state track-and-field championships, expanding the field amid pushback from President Trump over transgender athletes.
The federation, which oversees high school sports in California, described the change as a “pilot entry process” aimed at increasing participation for “biological female” athletes who missed qualifying for the championship meet by one slot.
“Under this pilot entry process, any biological female student-athlete who would have earned the next qualifying mark for one of their Section’s automatic qualifying entries in the CIF State meet, and did not achieve the CIF State at-large mark in the finals at their Section meet, was extended an opportunity to participate in the 2025 CIF State Track and Field Championships,” the federation said Tuesday in a statement.
“The CIF believes this pilot entry process achieves the participation opportunities we seek to afford our student-athletes,” the statement reads.
The policy did not say whether only girls bumped by male-to-female transgender athletes would be added to the field. In fact, the statement made no mention of transgender athletes at all.
Even so, the policy was widely interpreted as being a reaction to Mr. Trump’s threat on Truth Social to withhold federal funding from California unless it complies with his Feb. 5 executive order, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports.”
The president railed against a California “transitioned Male athlete,” an apparent reference to AB Hernandez, a Jurupa Valley High School student favored to win the girls’ triple jump and long jump next weekend at the CIF State Track and Field Championships in Clovis.
Izzy Gardon, spokesperson for California Gov. Gavin Newsom, praised the policy change.
“CIF’s proposed pilot is a reasonable, respectful way to navigate a complex issue without compromising competitive fairness,” Mr. Gardon said. “The governor is encouraged by this thoughtful approach.”
Mr. Newsom said in March that he believes allowing transgender athletes in female sports is “deeply unfair,” but the Democrat-controlled state Legislature killed legislation this year that would have required scholastic athletes to compete based on sex at birth.
CIF just admitted what we already knew! Our daughters are being pushed out of their own sports.
Their “pilot entry process” is nothing more than damage control after letting males dominate girls’ events. We will take it, it’s a step in the right direction. I know there are a… pic.twitter.com/0Mf7TRGaGK
— Sonja Shaw (@realSonjaShaw) May 27, 2025
Sonja Shaw, president of the Chino Valley Unified Board of Education, called the policy switch “nothing more than damage control,” but also a “step in the right direction.”
“Let’s be clear though: If a female athlete has to wait to be invited after losing her rightful spot to a male competitor, that’s not inclusion, it’s discrimination,” she said.
She blamed Mr. Newsom and the California Department of Education, calling them “cowards holding CIF hostage.”
“Girls should not need ’pilot programs’ to get what they already earned,” Ms. Shaw posted on X. “They deserve their lanes, their privacy, their titles, and their future. We will not stop fighting until they get it back.”
