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Former ESPN employee Sam Ponder is witnessing one of her strongest oppositions come to life before her very eyes.
Ponder said last month that it is “ridiculous” that transgender athletes compete against biological women and girls in sports.
On Monday, Ponder took to social media and explained that her high school daughter was “protecting an obviously naturally born child at a women’s (basketball) tournament.”
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ESPN reporter Sam Ponder during the first quarter between the Florida State Seminoles and the Mississippi Rebels at Camping World Stadium. (Kim Klement/USA Today Sports)
“Has happened many times living in New York…Parents applaud while boy is physical and dominant against girls. Girls’ team loses,” Ponder posted on X.
“We have taught our children to never make fun of the child… to always be kind and loving. That parents are the problem. That no child is born in the wrong body. But if I’m honest, seeing my daughter be published by a child whose parents have deceived him in this way is infuriating.”
Neither New York City nor the state have regulations regarding trans athletes, but there is currently a legal battle in Nassau County on Long Island.
Ponder responded to numerous X users, saying that the “child” in question was not to blame but rather the parents.
Then-ESPN reporter Samantha Ponder assisted during the first half of the 2013 BCS Championship game between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and the Alabama Crimson Tide at Sun Life Stadium on January 7, 2013. (Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports)
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Ponder appeared on the Pak Gazette Channel show. “Saturday in America” with Kayleigh McEnany last month and discussed her decision to speak out against transgender athletes participating in girls’ and women’s sports. The issue has been hotly debated in recent years: Lia Thomas won an NCAA title in 2022 and now the Trump administration is requiring American schools to comply with Title IX.
“There is no way in this country, especially in sports, that you can’t say on your social media accounts, ‘I don’t think men should participate in women’s sports.’ This is something — I talk to athletes all the time, 99.9% of professional athletes, like we know this is ridiculous,” she said.
“And the fact that we haven’t been able to say it boldly, but with kindness and some humility, is crazy. It’s crazy that we’ve gotten to this point in sports where we just can’t be honest about what’s true and not be idiots about it, except to say, ‘Yeah, you’re not going to put a man in my daughter’s locker room. It’s not happening.'”
Samantha Ponder (yellow hat) watches her husband, then-Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder (not pictured) at training camp at Blakeslee Fields on July 27, 2013. (Bruce Kluckhohn/USA TODAY Sports)
Transgender athletes in women’s and girls’ sports will continue to be a major issue in 2025. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February banning men from competing in women’s and girls’ sports. Since then, several states have ignored the order.
