high school sports

Missouri lawmakers banned transgender student athletes from playing on sports teams that align with their gender identity, and restricted transgender minors from accessing gender-affirming health care like hormone treatments. But the current laws expire in August 2027.

A Kansas City doctor is behind a report about the unique injury risks of cheerleading, and is calling for a series of changes to improve safety — including recognizing it as a sport. Plus: Researchers still know little about why concussions are increasing for female athletes.

A Kansas City doctor and the American Academy of Pediatrics have issued a report analyzing the unique injury risks in cheerleading and how to improve safety for the first time in over a decade. They’re calling for a series of changes, including broad recognition of cheerleading as a sport.

Ovet Gomez Regalado, a 15-year-old sophomore, is the fourth Shawnee Mission Northwest student to die in the past 14 months. A GoFundMe for his family has already raised more than $29,000.

Kansas City Public schools combined two football teams last year due to low participation. With growing enrollment and a middle school feeder program, Central has its own team again this year.

Kansas City native and former Seattle SuperSonics basketball player Dean Tolson made it to college without learning to read. Now, he holds an advanced degree, and is advocating for education with a new memoir, "Power Forward."

A new Kansas law bans transgender girls from playing sports on girls' teams in schools and colleges. Opponents say that discriminating against transgender children was a solution to a problem that didn't exist, and the law ignores real fairness problems that female athletes face in Kansas.

Neither the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education nor the Missouri State High School Activities Association could say how they will enforce the state's restrictions on transgender athletes — one of the most controversial new laws approved by Missouri legislators this year.

The Urban Youth Academy helped plant the team's flag in the Historic 18th and Vine district, but many residents of nearby neighborhoods have only mustered lukewarm acceptance. Will the lack of enthusiasm affect the push for a new downtown ballpark?

Under the legislation, schools would not be allowed to let students play on sports teams that don’t match the gender listed on their birth certificate or another government record. The bill would apply to public and charter schools from grade six through 12.

A pair of bills were debated by the Senate education and workforce development committee aimed at expanding access to activities like sports and clubs to students who are homeschooled.

The bill would require students in Kansas to be assigned to male and female sports teams based on biological evidence at birth, including a person’s genitalia, chromosomes or reproductive potential. Among 41,000 girls competing in Kansas high school athletic events, only three are known to be transgender.