Last Saturday, San Diego State's volleyball victory over San Jose State University (SJSU) was overshadowed by loud protests from the crowd. Although a record number of spectators attended, the sudden interest in women's volleyball seems to have more to do with the addition of male player Brayden “Blair” Fleming to San Jose State's team than the sport itself.
Fleming's inclusion is unpopular
A large crowd had come to the game just to protest. At one point, a large banner was unfurled encouraging SJSU, the Mountain West Conference and the NCAA to “save women's sports,” while protesters chanted, “Men have no place in women's sports.”
During the game, a San Diego player was injured while defending Fleming's cleats. The athlete landed awkwardly after a jump and required help from the court.
Fleming's addition to the SJSU team is highly controversial. Five teams chose to cancel games against the school rather than risk playing against him. So far, the list of teams to withdraw without playing Fleming includes Southern Utah, Boise State, Utah State, Wyoming and Nevada-Reno. San Jose has won seven games this season by forfeit.
Fleming's teammate Brooke Slusser joined the lawsuit against the NCAA, which was represented by Riley Gaines. Gaines is a former college swimmer at the University of Kentucky who spoke out against male participation in women's sports after being forced to compete with biological male Leah Thomas (real name William). I started.
Assistant coach suspended
Adding fuel to the fire, SJSU suspended associate head volleyball coach Melissa Batty Smooth. The coach filed a Title IX complaint in support of Slusser. She claimed that San Jose State did not warn recruits that there was a transgender player on the team and hid Fleming's gender from them, stating:
Women are being robbed of their safety. Fair play is being taken away from women. We need more voices in this fight because, as we know today, the future of women's sports is at stake.
She has been advised not to speak further to the media about this issue.
Regarding Batty Smooth's suspension, SJSU released the following statement:
The San Jose State University women's volleyball team's associate head coach is not currently with the team and will not provide further information on this matter.
The coach is prohibited from speaking to the media. However, Mr. Slusser said the following about X:
My assistant coach told the truth to protect the team. Then… they (suspend) her. They took away the only safe place we had in the program. Because she knew standing up for the 18 women on her team was the right thing to do. There are no men.
Fleming's addition to women's volleyball only affects a small portion of the sports world as a whole. However, the issue has had such profound cultural impact that it influenced the US presidential election. People, transgender or not, don't like the idea of men competing in women-only sports. They believe it is an unfair and unnecessary acquiescence to the transgender community, which has already taken so much from women.
