Coaching an athlete in transition

Coach Denis Vachon has written an article for CBC Sports about helping the young transgender woman Emily train while transitioning.

Vachon points out that as “a young boy,” Emily was timid, shy, stuttered a bit and had a difficult time looking you in the eye. When Emily was 12 her mother asked Vachon for a meeting. She told him that Emily had told her parents that she was meant to be a girl. They were honoring her wishes.

Vachon writes:

The change in E (her nickname until she chose Emily) was instantaneous. Gone were the timid, fearful days of the past. She came to training confident, happy, and full of stories. Her energy was contagious. It was like having a new athlete in the group. Physically, the changes were a tad slower, her hair started to grow longer, her attire began becoming more feminine and because of that, eyes started wandering and voices started whispering.

Vachon tells the story of how he explained Emily’s new life to her male co-athletes. He is clearly surprised as to how well that went:

Kids really can be better than adults. They have the capacity to be open-minded, encouraging and willing to grow. It’s mind-blowing to me, how a group of teenagers, most of whom were boys, embraced E for her bright qualities. They had no care for the gender transition that was happening. Teenagers are publicly blamed for so many transgressions in our society but this experience showed me that kids are responsible for a lot of good in the world.

Good!

Read the whole article here!

Hormones and sports? We have been there before!

Kirsti Miller writes:

//At the 1936 Berlin Summer Olympic Games, 18-year-old American sprinter Helen Stephens was accused by rival athlete Stella Walsh [Stanisława Walasiewicz] of being a man. In a twist of irony, an autopsy eventually revealed that while Stephens did not appear to have any sort of intersex condition, her accuser did. Walsh was revealed to have both 45X0 and 46XX chromosomes, along with “male sex organs.”//

Stephens beat Walsh in the 100 meter dash. Stephens was the accused of being male and was forced to submit to a genital inspection to confirm her gender.

The point here is not that Walsh was a man. She identified as a woman and was therefore a woman. The point is that the world is a much more complex place than many people like to believe.

Photo of Helen Stephens above.

Transgender people in sports: The data doesn’t match the claims that they shouldn’t compete

Interesting article by Michea over at Medium:

Despite the pervasive narrative that transgender people, specifically transgender women, have an unfair advantage and thus shouldn’t be allowed to compete in competitive sport, the history and scientific data show that the narratives are either not backed up by evidence or are simply falsehoods shared to create fear.
While transgender people have been competing openly in sports for the past few decades, we have yet to see the so-called take over of sport that numerous articles and organizations claim will happen if we allow transgender people to compete in their gender category.

“The myth of the “level playing field” in sports” credit Dr. Veronica Ivy for graphic. Image below from Transathlete.com.

All you need to know about testosterone in women

Kirsti Miller har a great thread on the role of testosterone in women:

//Young women generally have about 10% of the testosterone men have, but by the age of 40, they have roughly half. After menopause, some women can have higher testosterone levels than men of the same age.

T is a natural hormone, but it has also been abused in the past for doping female athletes, notably in former East Bloc countries. It is not legal to do this,but can be quite difficult to detect, as natural hormone levels can differ significantly from person to person.

Women who have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have much higher testosterone levels than other women do. They can develop menstrual irregularities and facial hair and acne. This affects about one in every 10 young women.

Testosterone is necessary for the survival of both men and women and a shortage of it can cause memory problems, spatial disorientation and a lack of interest in sex in everyone.

Mary Decker-Slaney, world champion long-distance runner from the early 80s had a testosterone level that was much higher than the 6:1 ratio allowed by the IAAF. With age, women’s testosterone levels increase significantly, while those of men drop.

In female athletes, testosterone rises in anticipation of competition more in women than it does in men, researchers say.

Young women who have high testosterone levels have lean bodies, high energy levels and a flat strong abdomen. They do not necessarily look particularly masculine.

Men’s testicles produce testosterone, but the testosterone production in women is divided between their ovaries and their adrenal glands.

When women develop higher testosterone levels, they can become more masculine, but they can also be at increased risk of diabetes, breast cancer and heart disease if they are overweight.

Testosterone generally decreases fat mass, but also increases insulin resistance, which could lead to weight gain. In short, it does different things to different women.

Optimal testosterone levels vary incredibly widely from one man to another, and from woman to woman. The testosterone levels in one person can also differ widely when measured at different times.//

She has also an interesting thread on testosterone and athletes:

//Fun FACT: Where did the @WorldAthletics get the 5 nmol/L cutoff from? The medical profession has never defined being female by the level of testosterone in your blood and whether you’re sensitive to sex hormones or not.//

More here.

Who is Kirsti Miller? “World Aquathon Champion & Dual-International-Hall-Of-Fame-Athlete, Educator within sport regarding diversity, Prison Governor.” And yes, she is a transgender woman.

Photo: LeoPatrizi

Transgender athletes are not a problem

Brynn Tannehill gives a good summary of the trans athlete debate over at twitter: