Modern youth athletics employ increasingly sophisticated methods of disguising biological reality. Jerseys. Ponytails. Team photos. By the time the whistle blows, an otherwise reasonable parent may have already been asked to accept that everyone wearing the girls’ jersey is, in fact, a girl.

And what about the roster? In the wrong hands, it is nothing more than a list of unverified claims like “Name” and “Grade”. For decades DJUSD has been asking parents and coaches to accept, without inspection, that everyone listed under girls’ athletics is exactly what the paperwork says they are. No anatomical confirmation. Not even a helpful diagram. Just emergency contacts, team numbers, and blind faith.

And this problem becomes exponentially harder to detect when the student sucks at sports.

It used to be that a boy who finished a race behind six girls was, biologically speaking, seventh-place proof of a little sissy boy who let himself get beat by girls. Once trans kids are involved, it’s hard to tell whether a girl is actually an exceptional athlete or just a trans kid confusing the opposing team of real boys into underperforming.

Which is why athletic performance is such an unreliable way to determine whether correct genders are being properly observed.

For years, schools have encouraged children to think of sports as a place to learn teamwork, get exercise, form friendships, build confidence; it’s the chance to complain about practice, forget your water bottle, and spend afternoons running around a field with friends. These are important childhood experiences, which is precisely why we must be careful about who is allowed to have them and where.

Self-identification cannot be the standard. A child may say she is a girl. Her parents may agree. Her teachers may agree. Her school may agree. Even a physician may agree. But when every person responsible for verifying biological reality has already accepted the child’s version of it, mandatory independent verification becomes essential.