The San Jose State University women’s volleyball team is trying to make the N.C.A.A. tournament for the first time in 23 years. But first, it must find schools willing to play against it.
The University of Nevada, Reno, became the fifth school this season to decline to compete against San Jose State when it pulled out of a game scheduled for last Saturday in response to reports that a player on San Jose’s team is a transgender woman. The others that have decided not to play the team are Southern Utah University, Boise State University, the University of Wyoming and Utah State University.
“We refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against student athletes,” Nevada’s team posted on social media, referring to what it views as an unfair advantage transgender women have in competition.
The resulting forfeits have pushed the San Jose State Spartans into the middle of the ongoing debate over whether transgender athletes, and particularly transgender women, should be allowed to participate on the team that aligns with their gender identity. That has been a prominent issue in Republican-controlled legislatures in recent years and one that has intensified as a talking point among Republicans in the final days of the presidential campaign.
The refusals to play, along with hateful online messages directed toward the team, have taken a toll on every member of the Spartans, said Todd Kress, the team’s head coach.
“It frankly has been heartbreaking to watch for our student athletes,” he said to reporters after the team lost a match this month. Mr. Kress was unavailable to be interviewed for this article.
The university has not publicly confirmed whether the team has a transgender player. Some news media outlets have named a player they say is transgender, but The New York Times has not independently verified the player’s identity nor whether there is a transgender player on the team. The Times could not reach the player named by other outlets for comment.
That player has been a member of the Spartans, a Division I program, since the 2022 season. All five schools that forfeited their most recent matches against San Jose State have played matches in previous seasons against the school when the player has been on the team. Officials with the schools that have forfeited did not respond to requests for comment.
In the United States, 25 states have laws barring transgender athletes from competing in girls’ and women’s sports, according to the Movement Advancement Project, an L.G.B.T.Q. advocacy group that tracks state-level legislation. Many of those laws have been blocked, pending legal challenges.
The N.C.A.A.’s rules on transgender participation vary by sport, depending on the governing bodies of that sport. In swimming and track and field, for instance, transgender women are essentially banned from competing in women’s events. In volleyball, transgender athletes must submit documentation showing that they have “taken the necessary steps to transition to their adopted gender,” according to guidelines from USA Volleyball, the sport’s governing body.
The N.C.A.A. also requires transgender women to meet certain standards involving their levels of testosterone, a hormone linked to increased muscle growth and speed, among other physical attributes.
In March, a group of swimmers, volleyball players and track athletes filed a lawsuit against the N.C.A.A., asserting that it discriminates against women by depriving them of equal opportunities in college sports. As part of the complaint, the plaintiffs said the N.C.A.A. had violated federal law by allowing a swimmer who is a transgender woman, Lia Thomas, to compete for the University of Pennsylvania in the 2022 national championships. They also cited the San Jose State women’s volleyball team in the suit, which is still pending.
In broad terms, those who argue for banning transgender athletes from competing say that transgender women retain some of the physical advantages they gained when they went through male puberty before they transitioned, creating an unfair playing field.
But there is much debate about the extent to which testosterone provides a decisive advantage in athletic performance. A recent study financed by the International Olympic Committee found that while transgender female athletes showed greater handgrip strength — an indicator of overall muscle strength — they had lower jumping ability and lung function compared with women assigned female at birth.
In volleyball, opponents of transgender women competing argue that those players can jump higher and hit the ball harder and faster than can women assigned female at birth. Critics claim that teams with transgender women have an unfair advantage and pose a greater threat of injury to players on opposing teams. (The N.C.A.A. allows male students to practice with women’s teams provided that they meet certain eligibility requirements that do not focus on athletic ability.)
One of those critics is Brooke Slusser, a Spartans player and co-captain who said she was frequently assigned to share a room with her transgender teammate on road trips. Ms. Slusser recently joined the lawsuit against the N.C.A.A., and in the complaint, she said that her transgender teammate was hitting the ball “far harder than any woman she had ever played against” and that she feared getting injured from the force. Ms. Slusser added that the physical differences she encountered previously were not as noticeable or harmful as they are this season.
A spokeswoman for San Jose State said there have been no reports of significant injuries to teammates or opponents during matches or practices involving the teammate over several seasons.
Ms. Slusser could not be reached for comment, and most of San Jose State’s players have not publicly commented on the matter. But on social media, Ms. Slusser gave a “round of applause” for the Nevada team’s decision not to compete against San Jose State.
“Another great step in the right direction for women’s sports!” Ms. Slusser wrote.
On Saturday, hundreds of people attended a rally in support of the Nevada team’s decision to not play. Sia Liilii, the captain of Nevada’s team, spoke at the rally, as did Nevada’s Republican lieutenant governor and a prominent conservative critic of transgender athletes playing on women’s teams.
And on Sunday, Ms. Liilii joined Tulsi Gabbard, a former Democratic representative who is now campaigning for former President Donald J. Trump, and other conservatives for an event “on the future of women’s sports” in Pennsylvania.
The spokeswoman for San Jose State wrote in a statement that the school condemned any targeted campaigns against any of its students.
“We abhor that our students would be used for political purposes, and we are concerned about the implications of doing so,” the school said. “We will continue to take measures to ensure the safety of our students while they pursue their earned opportunities to compete, and we remain committed to fostering an inclusive and caring environment for our student athletes.”
The spokeswoman added that all of the team’s athletes are eligible to play under the rules of the N.C.A.A. and the Mountain West Conference, of which San Jose State is a part.
In the final weeks before the election, Mr. Trump and other Republican candidates have heavily emphasized transgender issues, including the debate over sports participation. At a town hall this month, Mr. Trump referenced a video of a player for the San Jose State women’s volleyball team spiking a ball that hit another player and said he would ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports.
Democratic candidates, including Vice President Kamala Harris, have mostly tried to ignore the outpouring of criticism among Republicans, focusing instead on other issues like abortion.
“This is not actually about sports,” said Tom Temprano, a spokesman for Equality California, an L.G.B.T.Q. civil rights group. “This is about politics. This is about trying to create a panic around the L.G.B.T.Q. community.”
Mr. Temprano said the anti-L.G.B.T.Q. policies and attacks harm the mental health and safety of transgender athletes.
“At the end of the day, trans athletes just want to work hard alongside their teammates, just like everyone else,” he said.
It is unclear how the rest of the season will unfold for the Spartans. Their regular season is set to end on Nov. 21 after a match against Boise State, which boycotted a game in September. The Mountain West Conference tournament begins on Nov. 27, with the N.C.A.A. tournament starting on Dec. 5. The Spartans currently have 11 wins, including the forfeits, and three losses, a record that is likely to qualify them for the tournament.
But after one match the Spartans did play, against Colorado State this month, Mr. Kress, the coach, lamented to The Denver Post the toll of the lost games.
“It’s not just us that are losing opportunities to play,” he said. “It’s the people choosing not to play us, and that’s very unfortunate when it comes to these young women who have earned the right to step on the court and play.”
The post San Jose State Women’s Volleyball Team Finds Itself at Center of Transgender Debate appeared first on New York Times.
