As a former Division I and All-Conference Minnesota State High School League (MSHSL) athlete, I’ve experienced, firsthand, how sports forge character and impart invaluable life lessons. These experiences equipped me with life skills to graduate from a military undergraduate institution and to become a first-generation law student at the University of Notre Dame.
These foundational principles of sports—service to others, self-discipline and the rewards of hard work—extend far beyond the field. However, the MSHSL’s recent decision to disregard President Donald Trump’s executive order on transgender athletes in women’s sports threatens to undermine these essential values that have served countless young athletes.
Allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports not only undermines fair competition but sends a troubling message to young female athletes: Their dedication and hard work take a back seat to erroneous progressive activism. The MSHSL policy jeopardizes both fair competition and the safety of female athletes, while corrupting the essential lessons about integrity that sports aim to instill.
The MSHSL’s decision also threatens team unity and cohesion. While purporting to promote inclusion, this policy fosters a team atmosphere of division. Female athletes who voice legitimate concerns about fairness and safety risk being labeled as intolerant and bigoted, thereby undermining the essential lessons of mutual respect and collective achievement that team sports foster.
We must ensure future generations of female athletes have the same opportunity to learn these vital life lessons, insulated from the political activism and misinformed notions of inclusivity that compromise the integrity of women’s sports.
Jimmy Murphy was raised in Golden Valley, Minnesota. After high school, he attended the Virginia Military Institute to play Division 1 football. Now, he is a law student at the University of Notre Dame. This first appeared as a letter in the Star Tribune.
