As the WNBA grapples with the heated national conversation over transgender participation in women’s sports, National Women’s Soccer League Commissioner Jessica Berman said the NWSL is “continuing to monitor” developments as the league remains without an official public policy on the issue.Speaking to reporters at the NWSL’s headquarters in Manhattan on Wednesday, Berman was asked if the league developed a policy on transgender participation and what steps it has taken to protect players from anti-trans sentiment. The league has been without a public policy for years, and there are currently no players who identify as trans playing in the NWSL.“Our policies are our practice, which is that every player who plays in this league has been determined to be eligible, and we’re continuing to apply that on a consistent basis,” Berman said, repeating previous comments she made on the matter in November.“Any changes to the way we operate, whether it’s in the form of creating a written policy or changing our practice, would be in consultation with our Players Association,” she continued, “and we’re continuing to monitor all of the real-time developments across adjacent or directly relevant institutions that are either making statements or making policy changes in that regard.”Berman’s remarks come as the discourse over trans inclusion in women’s sports has taken center stage in the WNBA after Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham came out against it in a story published by ESPN in late July. Asked about her stance after the article was published, Cunningham said it is “common sense” to bar transgender athletes from competing in women’s sports.The WNBA does not have a public-facing policy regarding transgender athletes. The league’s collective bargaining agreement, signed in March, states “only players who are women are eligible to play in the WNBA,” but it contains no specific references to trans athletes’ eligibility.Similarly, the NWSL has been without a public policy governing the inclusion or exclusion of trans players since 2022. According to reporting from The Guardian, the league early that year abandoned, without any public acknowledgement, a 2021 policy allowing trans athletes to compete if they met certain eligibility requirements. The change predated Berman’s tenure as NWSL commissioner.While the league’s current CBA does not specifically outline a policy for transgender inclusion, there is a clause in the contract that says the agreement will be applied “without discrimination.” It specifically references no discrimination on the basis of gender and gender identity.In November, Berman said the league’s “policy is our current practice” during a media availability held during halftime of an NWSL quarterfinal in Washington, D.C.“When we think about our policy, what I can say is that every single player who plays in this league is eligible to play in this league,” Berman said at the time. “Otherwise, they would not be playing. And we are proud of every single player who plays in our league.”These comments were significant because they were Berman’s first following then-Angel City defender Elizabeth Eddy’s op-ed published by the New York Post asking for the league to adopt “a clear standard” for gender eligibility, proposing that NWSL players must be born with ovaries or potentially submit to gene testing or other similar verification.In response, a spokesperson for the league said the NWSL is “committed to working directly with the NWSL Players Association on any changes to our league policies” to ensure players’ voices are “central to our processes and (this) reinforces our commitment to inclusion, trust and transparency.”Angel City FC captain Sarah Gorden and vice-captain Angelina Anderson opened a team news conference just days after Eddy’s op-ed was published, saying, in part, “that article does not speak for this team.” Eddy has since retired from playing professionally.The league, meanwhile, has maintained its firm stance that all players in the league are eligible.