3 Women’s College Volleyball Teams Protest Competing Against Male Player—Even His Teammate Agrees With Their Decision
A growing movement has taken hold in women’s collegiate volleyball as three teams—Boise State, Southern Utah, and the University of Wyoming—have forfeited matches in protest of playing against Blaire Fleming, a male player on San Jose State’s women’s team.
Blaire Fleming, a trans-identifying male athlete, competes for San Jose State’s women’s volleyball team and receives a full athletic scholarship designated for women. Since Fleming's inclusion on the team, San Jose State went undefeated at the Hawkeye Invitational and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The controversy escalated when San Jose State's own player and Fleming's teammate, Brooke Slusser, joined a lawsuit alongside 17 other female athletes, challenging the NCAA’s policies on transgender inclusion in women’s sports. Slusser has raised concerns about safety, particularly in high-speed, intense sports like volleyball, where biological differences can create a significant risk for injury.
The Women's Perspective
Boise State, Southern Utah, and Wyoming’s forfeitures emphasize the growing discontent among female athletes, who feel they are being placed in unsafe and unfair positions by being forced to compete against male athletes.
Volleyball, though not traditionally viewed as a contact sport, involves rapid, forceful movements, with differences in strength, muscle mass, and power. With a women’s net standing 7.5 inches lower than the men’s, male athletes can deliver more forceful spikes and serves, further heightening the risk of injury for female players.
Legal and Ethical Debate
The problem of men competing in women's sports has been exacerbated by the Biden-Harris administration’s 2024 attempt to change Title IX protections to include "gender identity." This rewrite would have prohibited bans on transgender athletes in women’s sports. However, the rule was blocked by multiple federal courts across several states, with challengers arguing it created unfair competition and jeopardized women's sports safety. The Supreme Court upheld the block, citing concerns over fairness.
This rewrite played a critical role in the ongoing debate, as female athletes and teams like Boise State, Southern Utah, and Wyoming now protest the inclusion of male athletes in their competitions. The lawsuit led by Gaines and joined by Slusser and other female athletes, contends that the NCAA’s policies violate Title IX by failing to provide female athletes with fair and safe competition.
While the NCAA maintains that its policies are inclusive and adhere to existing regulations, the forfeitures by these teams show the growing gap between the governing body’s political agenda and the female athletes’ concerns.
This growing resistance could signal a turning point in the debate over transgender athletes in women’s sports. As more teams refuse to compete, the pressure on organizations like the NCAA to reconsider their policies will likely intensify.
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