Trans players on sports teams have been subject of zero complaints, organizations say

The premier of New Brunswick says his government is concerned about trans athletes in girls' sports, but the association regulating school sports says it has not received a single complaint about that issue in at least a decade.

On Friday, when answering questions about his government's review of a school policy that protects trans LGBTQ students, Premier Blaine Higgs said another issue involving children is on his radar.

"There's the real issue of sports and understanding, 'OK what does that look like and how should that go forward?'" Higgs told reporters.

"And working with sports associations to figure that out, because we are concerned about the unfairness on women's teams."

Higgs — whose government has sparked a furore by reviewing a policy intended to make schools safer for queer and trans students — did not respond to questions about which sports associations he was referring to, and what conversations he's had or plans to have with them.

Andy Clark, the president of the New Brunswick Interscholastic Athletic Association, said this is not a concern for his organization.

In the eight years the association has had a trans-inclusive policy, and in his time as president, the association has not received a single complaint from students, their parents or anyone concerned about fairness for non-trans students when it comes to including trans students. 

He also said the province has not reached out to the association with the concerns that Higgs referenced.

"He may have had complaints come to him. We've not had any come to us," Clark said.

"So if that's what he's received, then we can discuss that and look at that … We have not received any complaints with the NBIAA and, really, no concerns have been raised around the policy with us." 

The NBIAA runs 16 high-school organized sports, and includes a membership of 16,000 students and 2,000 coaches.

Clark said the organization has in fact had one complaint, but it came from a trans student who was assigned female at birth and was playing with the boys team. The student said he did not feel comfortable with that and asked to join the female team. 

The rules originally said students should play with whichever team they identify with.

Following that complaint, Clark said the organization consulted with the Department of Education and changed the policy to say that a student can play with whichever team they feel comfortable.