“USAV athlete members are expected to participate or compete in all USAV-sanctioned events or activities as a member of the gender assigned at the time of birth on their birth certificate,” its policy statement states, effective immediately.

The updated policy arrived days after the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced that biological males would be barred from women’s sports. It did not use the word “transgender” in its policy update. The committee oversees all national governing bodies for various sports, including volleyball.

USA Volleyball specifies that the only genders that athletes can compete as are male, female, or non-binary. There are additional guidelines for non-binary athletes.

“If a USAV athlete/USAV member identifies as and selects ‘non-binary’ as their Profile gender, and the USAV athlete/USAV member is participating in a competition that only offers competition categories of male or female, the Region or USAV must work with the athlete to determine their competition gender based upon their gender assigned at birth and update the USAV Verified/Membership gender to male or female accordingly,” the volleyball organization said.

No athlete may change their gender during the volleyball season once they have been designated as male or female, the group added.

In February, Trump ordered the barring of biological men from playing in girls’ and women’s sports and threatened to rescind funding from any educational programs that “deprive women and girls of fair athletic opportunities.” Trump said at the time that the order applies to Olympic sporting events.

It remains to be seen how the new policies will affect athletes during the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. American middle-distance runner Nikki Hiltz, a non-binary athlete who was assigned female at birth, could potentially compete at the Olympic Games under the new policies.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s recent move puts it at odds with the International Olympic Committee, which still allows transgender athletes to compete under certain criteria.

Like the American volleyball organization, USA Fencing is falling in line on the issue. The fencing group updated its gender eligibility policy last week after facing months of criticism for disqualifying a female athlete who refused to compete against a biological male. USA Fencing’s policy takes effect Aug. 1.

Meanwhile, USA Swimming acknowledged the policy change and is reportedly working with the U.S. Olympic Committee to implement the new rules.

TRUMP SIGNS EXECUTIVE ORDER AIMING TO ‘SAVE COLLEGE ATHLETICS’

The latest developments come after the University of Pennsylvania announced earlier this month it would ban transgender athletes and restore all individual swimming records and titles to female athletes who lost to one of its athletes, transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.

Additionally, more than two dozen Republican states and Guam are urging the National Collegiate Athletic Association to re-award medals and accolades to female college athletes who felt cheated when playing with biological males.