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We report the development of a hydrogel‐based approach to select bull spermatozoa, a crucial step for successful assisted reproductive techniques (ARTs). Hyaluronic acid (HA) semi‐interpenetrated N‐isopropylacrylamide (PNIPAM) co‐20% N‐Tris (hydroxymethyl) methyl acrylamide (HMA) hydrogels were synthetized on glass surfaces and cultured in presence of frozen‐thawed bull spermatozoa. A fraction of motile bull spermatozoa population strongly attached to hydrogels and was partially released by treatment with hyaluronidase. Fifty‐nine (59 ± 7.24) per cent of sperm cells attached to PNIPAM‐HMA‐HA hydrogels and 31.16 ± 4.81% of them were released upon treatment with medium containing hyaluronidase. This attached‐released sperm fraction has acceptable characteristics of progressive motility (50.0 ± 5.0%), vigour (4), high viability (58.7 ± 11.7%) and low percentage of acrosome reacted spermatozoa (23.36 ± 4.1%). Our findings indicate that PNIPAM‐HMA‐HA hydrogels are non‐toxic and allow the selection of high‐quality sperm cells for ART. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]