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The Ann Arbor Skyline women’s volleyball team, which has a trans-identified man in its starting lineup, advanced to the Michigan State quarterfinals with a decisive sweep (25-15, 25-18, 25-21) over Saline on Thursday night at Mason High School. They are now one of eight teams remaining in the Michigan High School Athletic Association (MHSAA) Division I girls tournament, the state’s highest level.
The MHSAA requires transgender athletes to have an approved exemption to compete in any event sponsored by the organization, which includes district and regional tournaments. The organization said in September that it had not granted any waivers since last fall (waivers must be approved each year), but ignored multiple follow-up requests asking if any had been granted since then.
As OutKick reported throughout the fall season, Skyline appears to have attempted to hide the biological identity of its male player, and many parents on opposing teams expressed outrage when they discovered their teenage daughters were competing against a man.
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Ann Arbor Skyline beat Saline to reach the MHSAA Division I quarterfinals, sparking debate about a trans-identifying player in Michigan high school girls volleyball. (Outside kick)
The trans-identified player, whom OutKick is not naming because the athlete is believed to be underage, dominated the first set with several massive kills, helping Skyline win the first set, 25-15.
However, every time the player spiked the ball, the frustration on the faces of the Saline cheerleaders was evident. One parent kept two thumbs down every time the player made a key play.
Another father saw the player spike a ball and turned to his husband and said quietly, “That’s the boy, right?”
However, after Skyline won the first set, it seemed like the team was less inclined to set that player up for spikes. While the trans-identified player was not the most dominant on the court (perhaps intentionally), the advantages in jumping and hitting ability of the male player over the female players were clear.
“As you saw, it was actually a pretty close game when he wasn’t on the court,” a Saline parent told me after the game.
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The trans-identified player, whom OutKick is not naming because the athlete is believed to be underage, dominated the first set with several massive kills, helping Skyline win the first set, 25-15. (Getty Images)
Another person present commented: “I’ve never seen a girl jump so high.”
Unfortunately, although it seemed clear that several Saline parents wanted to express their frustrations, most shied away from it. One of them told me that, as much as they wanted to make their feelings known, they feared that their children would suffer retaliation.
Part of the problem in reporting this story is that all of the schools Skyline has played so far in the MHSAA tournament are in or around Ann Arbor. Several people commented on X, jokingly referring to the city as “The People’s Republic of Ann Arbor” due to its radical left-wing political culture.
Parents fear that speaking out against radical leftist ideology puts their children in danger. It’s hard to blame them for feeling this way.
But things are about to change. Skyline will face Byron Center in the state quarterfinals on November 18 at Gull Lake High School in Richland, Michigan. While Ann Arbor voted overwhelmingly for Kamala Harris in the 2024 U.S. presidential election (71 percent in Washtenaw County, which encompasses Ann Arbor), Byron Center High School is located in Kent County. Kent County was much more divided (52 percent to 47 percent for Harris).
The Ann Arbor Skyline women’s volleyball team advanced to the Michigan State quarterfinals with a decisive sweep (25-15, 25-18, 25-21) over Saline on Thursday night at Mason High School. (iStock)
But Byron Center is located very close to the border of two other counties, Allegan and Barry. Both voted decisively for Donald Trump (64 percent and 66 percent respectively).
It will be interesting to see what happens once Skyline breaks out of its bubble. Inside their bubble, viewers harassed me for doing my job and, in my opinion, were practically encouraged by Skyline director Casey Elmore. Why wouldn’t they? It is clear that his views on these issues are rarely, if ever, questioned.
We’ll see what happens on November 18th at Gull Lake High School.
