Free Republic

A school board meeting in California descended into explosive debate after a girls' volleyball team forfeited to an opponent with a transgender player. The players on the Riverside Poly High School girls' volleyball team chose to forfeit last Friday's game against Jurupa Valley High School. Multiple parents previously told Fox News Digital the forfeit was in response to the presence of trans athlete AB Hernandez on the Jurupa Valley team. Local parents showed up to the Riverside Unified School District board meeting on Thursday to speak out in support of the girls who forfeited and against the school district for...

A California high school girls’ volleyball team forfeited a match against a team that is believed to include a biological male trans athlete Friday night. Riverside Poly High School in Riverside County, California, announced its forfeit against Jurupa Valley High School in a statement. “Riverside Poly High School’s girls volleyball team will not take the court for tonight’s scheduled game against Jurupa Valley High School,” the statement said. “This match will be recorded as a forfeit in non-league standings. We understand this is disappointing for our athletes, families and supporters, and we appreciate the community’s understanding. We remain committed to...

Readers of The Sacramento Bee's coverage of a rally for legislation pitched as protecting girls, women and parental rights at the California statehouse Friday would have no idea someone shot at the house of the volleyball coach who helped inspire the bills and spoke at the rally, or even that San Jose State University fired her for exposing a male on her women's team. The Capitol newspaper's omission of the shot fired through Melissa Batie-Smoose's window Monday while she was at home in a virtual meeting with a lawyer, confirmed by local police Thursday, and her unwilling departure from SJSU...

San Jose State University has acknowledged a recent mass exodus of volleyball players who entered the transfer portal after a controversy-riddled season involving a trans athlete on the team. The university provided a statement to Fox News Digital in which it expressed “respect” for the recent wave of players who have opted to transfer. “Student athletes have the ability to make decisions about their college athletic careers, and we have the utmost respect for that,” the statement read. The San Francisco Chronicle reported that seven of the team’s players have entered the transfer portal. The seven players who are transferring...

In a new documentary from the Independent Women's Forum, "Kill Shot: How Payton McNabb Turned Tragedy Into Triumph," a former high school athlete is hoping to prevent other women and girls from experiencing what happened to her. In 2022, her dreams of pursuing college sports were shattered when a boy who "identified" as a girl spiked a volleyball with such force that she was almost killed. https://notthebee.com/article/watch-former-high-school-volleyball-player-payton-mcnabb-gives-testimony-about-major-injury-she-sustained-after-being-injured-by-an-opposing-trans-student McNabb was knocked unconscious for 30 seconds, and was later diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, a brain bleed, partial paralysis, and a partial loss of vision. "If my story can in any...

The parents of a volleyball player who was left with serious brain damage after she was knocked to the ground by a transgender opponent have broken their silence and have urged families to 'pull your kid' from sports games. Payton McNabb was 17 when a ball spiked by a trans opponent with force struck her in the face, threw her to the ground and left her unconscious while she played a volleyball match in September 2022. Payton was left with brain damage and paralysis on her right side, which ended her dreams of getting a volleyball college scholarship and has...

Piecemeal decisions at lower courts have created a shifting legal landscape across the nation, advocates say A federal court’s decision last week to allow a biological male at San Jose State University to compete in a women’s collegiate volleyball tournament added yet another layer to the growing patchwork of legal rulings surrounding transgender athletes. That case is still working its way through lower courts, but the decision has led opponents to renew their pleas for a Supreme Court ruling on the issue.

The San José State University (SJSU) women’s volleyball team made international news this season, with coverage by the BBC, the Telegraph, Quillette, the New York Times, CNN, and ESPN. The reason for all this interest is that SJSU had a biological male on the team. This offense against athletic fairness was not received kindly by many involved. Brooke Slusser (a team co-captain), assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, two former players, and eight players from teams that forfeited games against SJSU have all filed suit. Teams from Boise State University, Southern Utah University, Utah State University, the University of Wyoming, and the...

The San Jose State women’s volleyball team continues to face nationwide criticism from people who are claim that the club has a transgender player on the roster. Amid the controversy, several teams have already boycotted their games against San Jose State in recent months. Several athletes from various schools have also filed a federal lawsuit to stop the San Jose State player from taking part in championship games, CNN reported. The San Jose State player who is at the center of the controversy has not made any public comments on the situation. Although the player has been on the team...

A clip of transgender volleyball star Blaire Fleming warming up for the Mountain West Championship final on Saturday night has gone viral, with fans claiming San Jose State should have been made to forfeit the game. Fleming and the team went on to lose to Colorado State in the Las Vegas showpiece, but it did not stop X users from commenting on her ability after watching the clip. In the short, seven-second video posted by reporter Dan Zaksheske, Fleming can be seen approaching the net before leaping high and playing a vicious kill shot back over to her opponent. The...

San Jose State volleyball player Blaire Fleming probably played the final college volleyball game of the athlete’s career after a Mountain West Tournament final loss to Colorado State Saturday night. Fleming led the Spartans on a run to the championship match in a senior season overshadowed by lawsuits from a teammate and a national controversy over Fleming being transgender. Fleming led the team in spikes and prompted four Mountain West rivals to forfeit a total of seven conference games, including a tournament semifinal. But Colorado State never shied away from playing Fleming or the Spartans. The Rams played San Jose...

San Jose State University will face Colorado State Saturday at the Mountain West Conference tournament final in women’s volleyball after a months-long controversy and ongoing legal challenges claiming there is a transgender player on the team. Over the last several months, multiple teams in the Mountain West Conference, as well as one other team, refused to play against San Jose State. The dispute continued as several athletes from various schools in the conference filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month seeking to stop a San Jose State player from competing in championship games....... Neither the player in question nor San...

Awomen's volleyball team with a transgender player has advanced to the final of a championship tournament without playing a single match after their opponents refused to compete against them. The San Jose State University Spartans progressed to the Mountain West Conference tournament final when Boise State University dropped out of Friday's semi-final in protest over the inclusion of transgender player Blaire Fleming....... The Spartans, who accumulated six forfeit victories during the regular season, will now face either Colorado State or San Diego State in Saturday's championship match.

Boise State, which twice boycotted regular-season matches with San Jose State, pulled out of the Mountain West women’s volleyball tournament Wednesday night even after securing a spot in the semifinals against the Spartans. San Jose State, which received six forfeit victories because of boycotts from Mountain West opponents, is seeded second in the conference tournament and received a first-round bye. Now the Spartans will advance all the way to Saturday’s championship match rather than take the court Friday. Boise State released a statement that read: “The decision to not continue to play in the 2024 Mountain West Volleyball Championship tournament...

Reporters attending the Mountain West Conference volleyball tournament in Las Vegas will not be permitted to speak with Blaire Fleming, the reportedly transgender San Jose State star at the center of an ongoing gender controversy within the sport. As a school spokesperson told Outkick.com, San Jose State players are not expected to be available to reporters during the tournament. 'We do not anticipate facilitating any interviews with players or coaches during the Mountain West Tournament,' a school spokesperson wrote in an email to Outkick.com. However, her Spartans teammate and SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser is named as a plaintiff in a...

A federal judge ruled Monday that a member of the San Jose State women’s volleyball team, who’s been at the center of a transgender controversy, can participate in the Mountain West Conference tournament that begins Wednesday, according to The New York Times. Judge S. Kato Crews, an appointee of President Biden to the U.S. District Court in Colorado, made the decision amid a national transgender controversy over Blaire Fleming, a redshirt senior who joined the Spartans in 2022. “San José State University will continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms,” the university said in a statement...

Collegiate women’s volleyball players filed multiple lawsuits on Wednesday against the Mountain West Conference over the inclusion of trans-identifying male players in their sport. A dozen women have cited violations of their First Amendment rights and Title IX protections in response to San Jose State University’s biologically male star player Blaire Fleming’s participation in the MWC, prompting four schools in the conference to forfeit games against SJSU, OutKick reported. Several of Flemings’ SJSU teammates, like Captain Brooke Slusser and two former Spartans — along with female athletes from four other colleges — are part of the suit against the conference,...

The college volleyball controversy over a transgender player took a new twist this week when San Jose State University's women's team sued their own coach. SJSU women's volleyball team has had multiple games in the Division-1 Mountain West Conference forfeited by other schools due to safety concerns over playing against Blaire Fleming, who is biologically male. Amid the controversy, which has sparked national debate, some of SJSU's own players have turned on the school, filing a lawsuit against their head coach, the college and the Mountain West Conference. The lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday, asks for Fleming to be declared...

San Jose State asst. volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose, who coached transgender Blaire Fleming, continues to speak out about protecting women's sports. OutKick exclusively reported her suspension, which began on Nov. 2. The university sent a statement to OutKick confirming the news, but did not provide a reason. "The associate head coach of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team is not with the team at this time, and we will not provide further information on this matter," SJSU said in a statement. The obvious reasoning is Batie-Smoose's opposition to transgender athletes competing in women's sports. San Jose State has...

As OutKick reported earlier Saturday, San Jose State suspended associate head volleyball coach Melissa Batie-Smoose. The university sent a statement to OutKick confirming the news, but did not provide a reason. "The associate head coach of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team is not with the team at this time, and we will not provide further information on this matter." Batie-Smoose filed a Title IX complaint against the school earlier this week alleging that San Jose State showed favoritism for transgender player Blaire Fleming at the expense of the women on the team. Following her suspension, Batie-Smoose spoke...