Girls' Sports Day Should Be for Girls | Payton McNabb

February 4th marks National Girls & Women in Sports Day, and like most years, I am ecstatic to celebrate all the achievements that women have made in the sports arena since Title IX was passed in 1972. But this year, it carries an added significance. Important steps have been taken to protect women’s sports, making it imperative to highlight the voices of girls and athletes across the country so these protections can be preserved and strengthened.

On the girls’ volleyball court, I was severely injured by a male athlete competing in the women’s category. That moment didn’t just end my senior season — it ended my future in sports and rewired my understanding of fairness and equality in a way that no teenage girl should have to learn firsthand. 

A career-ending injury, on top of knowing that it was preventable, is still a hard pill to swallow. What makes it heavier is the realization that it was a direct result of the adults in the room refusing to stand up against it, even when they all knew that something serious could happen. 

Payton McNabb, former North Carolina high school volleyball player who was injured by a transgender opponent, speaks during the hearing on "Unfair Play: Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports" held by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Subcommittee at the U.S. Capitol. (Photo by Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

Boys and men are stronger, faster, and bigger than the average female. That’s basic biology. Women simply aren't physically competitive with our male counterparts. That’s why the female category was created, so that there would be equality in sports that is fair to everyone involved. 

When we ignore biological reality in sports, the consequences show up evidently in the form of injuries and lost opportunities. It only discourages girls from playing the sports that they have worked so hard to excel at. They show up when young women are told to swallow their discomfort, fear, or even harm in the name of inclusivity. And they show up most clearly when girls are asked to compete in a system that has failed to protect them. 

This isn’t just about me. It’s about the girl who trained her whole life only to lose her podium spot. The teenager who stops playing because she doesn’t feel comfortable in the locker room. The athlete who realizes that no amount of hard work can overpower biology. When we allow male bodies into women’s sports, we punish girls for being themselves and teach them to shrink, rather than to enjoy the opportunities that should be available to them in the freest country in the world. 

National Girls & Women in Sports Day was created to celebrate progress. It exists because women fought for decades to be recognized as equals and protected as athletes in our own right. If we allow that legacy to be dismantled now, and mourn the erosion of women’s sports without putting up any fight at all, we’re betraying the very girls this day was meant to uplift. 

One year ago, I was proud to stand alongside female athletes who have been directly impacted by the male takeover of female sports, as President Trump signed the Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports Executive Order. This executive order not only protects equal athletic opportunity for both sexes, but it prohibits men from participating in athletic programs that are designated for women. I’m so grateful to once again have a leader in the White House who fights for women’s opportunities, and above all, our safety.

Right now, the future of women’s sports is sitting before the Supreme Court.  Will the law continue to recognize that women are a distinct biological class worthy of protection? Or will fairness be sacrificed to appease an ideology that embraces delusion over reality?

I didn’t lose my future in sports because I wasn’t good enough. I lost it because those who should have known better chose to stay silent in the face of obvious deceit. On a day meant to celebrate girls in sports, we cannot let girls' sports disappear. We cannot affirm delusion over reality, and we cannot let bad actors try to convince us that women won’t pay a serious price if protections for their sports, spaces, and opportunities fail. 

Payton McNabb is a sports ambassador for Independent Women and former three-sport high school athlete who turned tragedy into triumph after a traumatic brain injury ended her athletic future.