College baseball teams from Minnesota won't have a chance to advance to two national tournaments.
The Minnesota State College and Universities system (MnSCU) announced that all sports travel is nonessential, meaning any future trips to North Carolina would be prohibited. The NCAA Division II national baseball tournament and NJCAA Division III World Series are scheduled to be played in North Carolina this spring.
The announcement follows Gov. Mark Dayton's statement last month that instructed "employees in all state agencies to refrain from traveling to North Carolina for conferences or other official state business, until the North Carolina governor and State Legislature repeal the discriminatory law they enacted [on March 23]."
The law bans transgender people from using locker rooms and bathrooms designated for the gender with which they identify.
The Governor's order did not apply to MnSCU, but its leadership later implemented its own travel ban for MnSCU employees.
The Division II national championships have been played in Cary, N.C., since 2009 and Minnesota State-Mankato has been in that field four times -- most recently in 2014. The Mavericks were national runners-up in 2013. St. Cloud State was one game away from qualifying last year.
Initially, it was unclear if this included travel associated with college athletics and, after a month of consideration, the MnSCU determined it would.
"On May 2, the Minnesota State College and Universities presidents met and expressed their support for Governor Dayton," the statement released by communications director Doug Anderson said. "The presidents have concluded that athletics-related travel is nonessential for purposes of this directive. While we understand that some players may be disappointed, no sports team from any of our colleges or universities will participate in tournaments in North Carolina this spring."