October 3, 2024 |
Photo – Blair Fleming – Courtesy sjsuspartans.com
Riley Gaines, the American swimmer who has fought back against the invasion of men into women’s collegiate sports in recent years, praised the University of Wyoming volleyball team for cancelling Saturday’s game against San Jose State University, which has a man on its team.
San Jose State University kept the original story of Blaire Fleming, born a man, a secret. More than a dozen female athletes, including one of Fleming’ teammates, are suing the NCAA for Title IX violations.
Fleming, a redshirt senior, previously played at Coastal Carolina University and has played on the SJSU women’s team for the past three seasons. San Jose State initially hid the fact that the 6-foot-1 outside hitter was born a male.
According to the legal complaint, Fleming’s teammate on the Spartans, Brooke Slusser had noticed that “Fleming played volleyball with jumping ability and power that surpassed that of any girl on the team.”
It wasn’t until she overheard a conversation among students who called Fleming a “guy” that she realized why that was.
The San Jose State is enjoying a historic year in volleyball. They are undefeated with two teams, including Boise State, forfeiting a contest against the Spartans earlier this week.
A group known as Concerned Women of America is raising concern about Fleming’s presence on the court after San Jose State hid the fact the player is a man.
“We want to protect the integrity of women’s sports but also the safety of these female athletes,” Macy Petty of CWA said. “Many of these schools were unaware that there was a male athlete on this team until this news article came out in April. We just want to make sure that these schools know exactly what is going on in this athletic program because the NCAA and SJSU had not previously given them the decency to even let them know what was happening.”
Fleming is enjoying standout year in part because the net in women’s collegiate volleyball is seven inches shorter than it is for male players.
The attorney said players have felt blindsided because players had been informed about the presence of transgender players on opposing teams.
Last Friday, Colorado State University in Fort Collins told the group, Concerned Women of America, that it planned to play San Jose State despite the safety concerns raised by CWA to the school. The match between the two schools is set for today.
The match with Wyoming was set for Saturday in Laramie.
After Boise State cancelled its matchup with San Jose State over the controversy of the male player on the women’s team, Idaho Governor Brad Little praised the school’s decision. He even signed an executive order, the nation’s first, “defending women’s sports.”
Governor Mark Gordon on Tuesday announced on X that he was “in full support of the decision by @wyoathletics to forego playing its volleyball match against San Jose State. It is important we stand for integrity and fairness in female athletics.”
The overwhelming majority of comments to the original post on the governor’s twitter feed were supportive of his comments.
