Girls on the Hillsboro-Deering High School soccer team refused to play against another New Hampshire team that has a male player.
According to local reports, the team from Kearsarge Regional High School features a male star athlete named Maelle Jacques playing in goal. The boy is already well known after making headlines for winning a state championship in girls’ high jump in February 2024.
At least five girls on the Hillsboro-Deering varsity team skipped the Tuesday game, according to parents, and with 17 players on the roster, Hillsboro-Deering was forced to use junior varsity players to fill out the squad. At least one parent remarked that the girls who skipped the game were the best players.
As a result, Jacques did not see much action during the game and was pulled with about 10 minutes left.
‘Refusing to compete is the best way to push back on this issue.’
“The Hillsboro girls can’t even get down the field without any of their best players. It’s one-sided,” parent Betsy Harrington said.
“No one ever got near [Maelle,] so I guess they’ll never be in any danger if there’s enough girls to always have a weak team,” the mother told the NH Journal. “If every game has a few girls refusing to play, we will never know the ability of the Kearsarge team. They have an advantage I hadn’t thought about. It’s that they get to always play a crippled team without all of their players.”
Another Hillsboro-Deering mother, Heath Thyng, said she was concerned about the physical health of the girls.
“This isn’t about transgenderism. This is about biology for us and the increased physical risk when playing a full contact sport against the opposing sex.”
“We believe, my daughter included, that refusing to compete is the best way to push back on this issue, and we are hoping parents will be more willing to put themselves out there knowing they don’t have to be the first or the only family within our community to do so,” the mother added.
Thyng noted that her daughter’s coaches said none of the girls who boycott any of their games will be punished or suffer any repercussions for refusing to compete.
Over the summer, New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu (R) signed into law HB 1205, which “requires schools to designate athletics by sex and prohibits biological males from participating in female athletics.”
The law reportedly applies to fifth grade and above.
The law also allows for any student who is aggrieved to bring legal action against a school district or state institution that is responsible for the violation. Schools can also pursue private action against other offending institutions.
According to the NH Journal, that institution is the Kearsarge School Board. The board allegedly voted over the summer to ignore the law and allow the boy to play against girls.
The state has several ongoing lawsuits regarding this issue, including two other male students who are challenging the law in federal court. An injunction is in place that allows them to play on their respective female teams, but it does not apply to other children in the state.
Additionally, the Bow School District is facing a lawsuit from parents who were punished for a silent protest at a girls’ soccer game.
Blaze News contacted Governor Sununu’s office and asked if the offending high school or school board would be punished for their violations. The governor was also asked if any games Kearsarge won with the boy on its team would be overturned.
This article will be updated with any applicable responses.
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