A total of 40 professional, Olympic and Paralympic athletes signed a letter opposing a transgender sports ban under consideration in the U.S. House of Representatives.

U.S. women’s national team veterans Megan Rapinoe and Becky Sauerbrunn and retired WNBA star Sue Bird are among the athletes to lend their names and support to the letter, which was sent Monday to House of Representatives legislative directors.

The letter, which was organized by advocacy group Athlete Ally, calls out HR 734, a Republican-led bill that would ban transgender and intersex girls and women from competing in sports around the country.

“As professional, Olympic and Paralympic athletes, we have dedicated our lives to sports. Sports have given us our greatest friends, taught us incredible life lessons, and given us the confidence and drive to succeed in the world,” the letter reads. “Every single child should have access to the lifesaving power of sports.”

So far, 20 states have enacted laws that ban transgender athletes from competing in sports.

“We believe that gender equity in sport is critical, which is why we urge policymakers to turn their attention and effort to the causes women athletes have been fighting for decades, including equal pay, an end to abuse and mistreatment, uneven implementation of Title IX, and a lack of access and equity for girls of color and girls with disabilities, to name only a few,” the letter reads. “Our deepest hope is that transgender and intersex kids will never have to feel the isolation, exclusion and othering that H.R. 734 is seeking to enshrine into law.”

Just last week, the Biden administration proposed new guidelines that would prevent an “outright ban” on transgender athletes in school sports, though it would allow schools to limit their participation in certain circumstances.

Becky Sauerbrunn spoke out against transgender sports bans under consideration in her home state of Missouri, where the USWNT will face Ireland at 7:30 p.m. ET Tuesday.

“The bills up for discussion in the Senate this week seek to solve a problem that simply doesn’t exist, and instead are sidelining youth from an outlet that brings them joy, connection and purpose,” Sauerbrunn wrote in the Springfield (Mo.) News-Leader.

The NWSL may be forcing Washington Spirit superstar Trinity Rodman to "look elsewhere" for her next contract, after the league vetoed a multi-million dollar offer from her current squad last week, Rodman's agent told CBS Mornings last Friday.

"We worked really hard to put together an agreement that we felt complied with the CBA and would keep Trinity in the league for the foreseeable future," said Rodman's rep Mike Senkowski.

"With no certain way to get her fair market value within the NWSL, naturally, that forces you and encourages you to look elsewhere," he continued.

While the fight to keep Rodman Stateside is not over, with the NWSLPA filing a grievance last week arguing that the league office's mandate to reject the Spirit's back-loaded contract — worth more than $1 million per year — is a free agency violation, the NWSL appears unwilling to budge.

In a weekend clarification to The Athletic, an NWSL source noted that commissioner Jessica Berman contests that the Spirit's offer to raise Rodman's compensation in the contract's later years would pull Washington out of salary cap compliance in 2028, with the league disagreeing with the club regarding the potential cap growth under a new broadcast deal.

The league source also noted that the offer has a built-in buyout clause, which the NWSL believes signals an admission of possible salary cap circumvention.

As the Washington Spirit and NWSL fans hope for a win from the union's grievance, the door to recruit Rodman elsewhere seems to be wide open for overseas clubs — particularly those with deep pockets.

The San Diego Wave are closing out 2025 with a title, defeating Liga MX Femenil side Tigres UANL 3-0 to lift the World Sevens Football (W7F) trophy on Sunday.

Wave attacker Makenzy Robbe opened the scoring in the 7v7 venture's championship match, before forward Adriana Leon tacked on a second-half brace to put the game out of reach — and secure the $2 million winner's share of the $5 million prize pool for the NWSL side.

"I think in sevens it's a lot more emphasis on the individual, and so I think players who maybe don't play [as much in NWSL matches]...get to show their creative side," noted Robbe. "It was definitely an element to this, which was really fun."

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In a showcase of club talent across the Americas, the San Diego Wave finished the second-ever W7F tournament undefeated, scoring 14 goals while only conceding three en route to becoming the champion of the competition's first-ever North American iteration.

"It was so fun, and honestly, I would love to be back again," said San Diego goalkeeper and the tournament's golden Glove winner DiDi Haračić. "And we got the bag."

Wave midfielder Gia Corley took home the Breakout Player award, and while Tigres fell just short of the trophy, forward María Sánchez earned the competition's Golden Ball and Golden Boot with her six goals and two assists.

Club América of Liga MX Femenil earned a third-place finish, winning $700,000 in prize money as the bronze medal winners.

Two years after her breakout NCAA tournament performance as a freshman, No. 10 Iowa State center Audi Crooks has become an unstoppable force for the Cyclones as they look to better their first-round exit from last year's postseason.

The junior is leading the nation in scoring with a career-high 27.3 points per game, all while smashing her own Iowa State single-game scoring record with a 47-point performance against Indiana on November 30th.

"These scoring records are really team records, especially for me as a post," Crooks told the Des Moines Register after the Cyclones' 106-95 win over the Hoosiers. "I don't bring the ball up. Somebody else does that and I don't pass the ball in the paint. Somebody else does that."

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Crooks, who will turn 21 years old this Saturday, continued her scoring pace with a 30-point game against Northern Illinois on Sunday — registered in only 19 minutes of playing time during the 105-52 blowout win.

Her efficiency has been on full display in the young 2025/26 NCAA season, with Crooks currently sitting first in field goal percentage at 73.8% while averaging only 25.3 minutes of playing time per game.

"It's always fun to watch her cook. When you get the ball to her hands and it's going in, it's Audi-matic,"  said Iowa State guard Reagan Wilson following Sunday's victory.

How to watch Crooks and Iowa State in action this week

Crooks and the No. 10 Cyclones will take on their season's biggest test yet on Wednesday, when they'll host in-state rival No. 12 Iowa.

The two unbeaten programs will clash at 7 PM ET, airing live on ESPN.

No. 1 UConn honored one of the NCAA basketball program's legends on Sunday, hanging up the No. 10 jersey of Hall of Fame guard Sue Bird in a retirement ceremony prior to the Huskies' dominant 102-35 victory over DePaul — their ninth win of the 2025/26 season.

A two-time NCAA champion, Bird is now one of only three UConn women's basketball players with a number in the rafters, joining Rebecca Lobo and Swin Cash — and soon-to-be Maya Moore.

"This is home," said Bird. "This is where it started. So to see what we are about to see, my number up in the rafters next to these other legends, it's an incredible, incredible honor. Hard to put into words."

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"The amazing thing about [Cash, Lobo, Bird, and Moore] was the incredible amount of success they had after they left here," said UConn head coach Geno Auriemma during Sunday's jersey retirement ceremony. "That as great as their accomplishments were here, what they've done since they left has been nothing short of incredible."

Bird became UConn's first-ever No. 1 WNBA draft pick in 2002, with the floor general winning four titles with the Seattle Storm plus five Olympic gold medals as part of Team USA before retiring in 2022.

How to watch No. 1 UConn in action this week

After honoring their past superstar, the reigning national champions are now looking to the future, with No. 1 UConn gearing up for a ranked matchup against No. 16 USC on Saturday.

The clash between the Huskies and the Trojans will tip off at 5:30 PM ET, with live coverage airing on FOX.