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Women’s College Volleyball Team Forfeits Match Over Trans Opponent

Women’s Volleyball Team Forfeits Match Over Trans Opponent

byAnastasia Boushee
October 1, 2024

On Saturday, Boise State University’s women’s volleyball team forfeited its match against San José State University without giving a public reason, though it is assumed that the decision came because the opposing team has a male player who claims to be a transgender woman.

In a statement to Outkick ahead of the game, Boise State wrote: “Boise State volleyball will not play its scheduled match at San José State on Saturday, Sept. 28. Per Mountain West Conference policy, the Conference will record the match as a forfeit and a loss for Boise State. The Broncos will next compete on Oct. 3 against Air Force.”

San José State University has unsurprisingly achieved a 10-0 winning streak as they compete this year with a male player who calls himself Blaire Fleming.

Boise State is the third university to either drop out of a match or considering dropping out when facing San José State University. A match scheduled for September 14 was forfeited by Southern Utah, while the University of Wyoming is allegedly considering forfeiting its October 5 match.

Meanwhile, the Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) sent a letter to the Mountain West Conference and all of the schools under the conference calling for them to protect female athletes from being forced to compete against males.

“Over the past few weeks, we have spoken with distraught student-athletes and their parents, coaches, and administrators throughout the Mountain West Conference (MWC) regarding a crisis in MWC women’s volleyball,” the letter read.

“Currently, the MWC, an NCAA member athletic conference, of which all but one of your schools is a public university, San Jose State University (SJSU)… and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), are violating federal law by implementing and enforcing the NCAA transgender eligibility policies (TEP) and permitting a transgender-identifying male, Blaire Fleming, to compete on the SJSU women’s volleyball team,” the letter continued.

Iowa Gov. Brad Little (R) praised Boise State for their decision.

“I applaud @BoiseState for working within the spirit of my Executive Order, the Defending Women’s Sports Act,” he wrote in a post on X. “We need to ensure player safety for all of our female athletes and continue the fight for fairness in women’s sports.”

Former University of Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines — who is currently working with ICONS in a lawsuit against the NCAA for allowing men in women’s sports — also celebrated Boise State University’s decision, telling Outkick: “I commend Boise State’s athletic department and everyone involved in the decision to forfeit their match against undefeated San Jose State. Some principles transcend winning on the court, and the safety and well-being of female athletes is one of them.”

“It’s encouraging to witness a growing number of institutions prioritizing fairness and athlete safety over forced inclusion. I hope to see more universities follow the lead of Boise State and Southern Utah, standing up for what’s right and protecting the integrity of women’s sports,” she added.

The decisions to forfeit matches over a transgender opponent are not shocking considering the clear danger women face when playing against males. One high school volleyball player already experienced this firsthand, Payton McNabb — who was just 17 years old when her hopes of a volleyball career were destroyed thanks to a nearly six-foot-tall male opponent who violently spiked a ball in her face, throwing her to the ground and knocking her unconscious. Afterward, the male player was seen laughing at what he had done. McNabb had to be taken to the hospital with a concussion and a neck injury, which she spent months recovering from. To this day, she still had impaired vision and partial paralysis on the right side of her body, along with anxiety and depression from the ordeal.

Author
Anastasia Boushee
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