Witnesses at a state legislative hearing in Boise, Idaho, gave accounts Thursday of the “horror” some college volleyball players experienced during the 2024 season amid a national controversy involving a trans athlete.
The testimony came during a hearing to discuss the passage of the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, proposed by Idaho State Representative Barbara Erhardt.
San Jose State University, whose volleyball team included player Blaire Fleiming, and the Mountain West Conference are facing a lawsuit from several female volleyball players who allege the school hid from players the fact that Fleming is a man biological. The lawsuit also alleges that Fleming was given a roster spot and a scholarship over players who claim to have been impacted emotionally and financially by the experience.
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Fleming led the Spartans to the Mountain West Championship game amid the lawsuit. However, eight of San Jose State’s games were lost by opponents in the wake of the controversy, including a conference tournament semifinal game against Boise State.
Boise State lost three games in total against SJSU in 2024, and Erhardt and other speakers praised the decision at the hearing.
One of the parents of a player in the conference gave his account of the situation Thursday. He also condemned all schools that did not resign from SJSU.
“I’m an Idaho mom who experienced it firsthand with a daughter who played in the Mountain West conference,” said a woman named April Cheney.
“NCAA President Charlie Baker, Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez, and all of the Mountain West college presidents and athletic directors who did not boycott failed to protect women’s sports. NCAA and the Mountain West Conference, the “I blame the season that lasted a year of eligibility, losses forced to be recorded as losses, and a conference championship that was a complete embarrassment.”
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Former NCAA swimmer and prominent conservative influencer Riley Gaines, who regularly organizes with other female athletes who have been affected by trans inclusion and is leading a lawsuit against the NCAA over the issue, revealed her account of what the players went through. , based on conversations with them.
“They were emotionally blackmailed into believing they were the problem,” Gaines said of the players, adding that Boise State was the only university that showed administrative support for players who wanted to resign.
“The overwhelming majority of them did not want this to happen to them. Nobody asked for it, this is not a situation they wanted to be in,” Gaines added. “These girls were terrified, they were afraid to stand upright, they were afraid to fight back, they were terrified of the things that would potentially happen if they just said ‘Men and women are different.'”
Marshi Smith, co-founder of the legal advocacy group Independent Women’s Sports Council, gave testimony in which she claimed that the athletes who joined the lawsuit felt threatened by retaliation from their university if they spoke out against trans inclusion.
“What will they do to us for talking?” Players asked often, according to Smith.
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Smith elaborated on these players’ questions in a follow-up statement to Pak Gazette Digital.
“They are often terrified of losing scholarships or being kicked off their teams. At San Jose State, administrators exploited these fears by telling them to stay quiet because it is Blaire Fleming’s story to tell, not their own,” Smith said .
San Jose State provided a statement to Pak Gazette Digital in response to statements from Thursday’s hearing.
“All San Jose State University student-athletes are eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules,” the statement read.
Smith also alleges that University of Nevada, Reno volleyball players were threatened with legal action if they refused to compete against San Jose State in a game scheduled for October but never played.
“At UNR, school administrators warned athletes that they could face legal action if they refused to compete against the SJSU team, which included a male starter,” Smith said.
Nevada has not responded to Smith’s allegations when asked for comment. The university previously provided a statement saying athletes were free to not play the game without discipline and that it would continue with the match to comply with a state law that aims to prevent discrimination against transgender people.
After the players pleaded with their university to resign from SJSU weeks before the game, the university rejected the request and issued a statement insisting it would play in the game. But when players went public with their complaints about the situation, it sparked weeks of controversy. Ultimately, Nevada had to cancel the game on October 25, just one day before it was scheduled to be played, because it did not have enough players willing to play.
However, even with the losses of Nevada, Boise State, Utah State, Southern Utah and Wyoming this season, dozens of other players were still forced to play against Fleming, some without even knowing the nature of the player’s birth sex.
Their first opponent of the season, Louisiana Tech, took the field against Fleming without knowing the player’s biological gender.
Louisiana Tech volleyball head coach Amber McCray confirmed to Pak Gazette Digital that her team did not know about the situation regarding Fleming’s natural birth sex, and did not find out until the day after the match through rumors. parental.
LA Tech athletic director Ryan Ivey suggested that if they had known Fleming’s natural birth sex, the team “would have pursued a different outcome,” in emails obtained by Pak Gazette Digital.
Then there are Fleming’s own teammates, including former SJSU co-captain Brooke Slusser, who is leading the lawsuit against the Mountain West and also signed Gaines’ lawsuit against the NCAA, citing her experience with Fleming.
Slusser told Pak Gazette Digital that the experience has been “traumatic.”
“This season has been so traumatizing that I don’t even have a proudest moment,” Slusser said.
In Slusser’s ongoing lawsuit against SJSU and Mountain West, his list of plaintiffs also includes players Alyssa Sugai, Elle Patterson, Sia Liilii, Nicanora Clarke, Kaylie Ray, Macey Boggs, Sierra Grizzle, Jordan Sandy, Katelyn Van Kirk, Kiersten Van Kirk and former SJSU volleyball assistant coach Melissa Batie-Smoose.
SJSU also recently acknowledged a mass exodus of volleyball players entering the transfer portal, as nearly all of the remaining players still eligible are now looking to leave the program.
“Student-athletes have the ability to make decisions about their college athletic careers, and we have the utmost respect for that,” a statement read.
