San Jose State University’s women’s volleyball schedule continues to get shorter as yet another team has opted not to play against the SJSU team.
The University of Wyoming is the latest school to take a forfeit loss against SJSU, and while no specific reasons have been given by any program, Wyoming is the third school to do so since it became public that SJSU has a male player on its team.
The SJSU team has a 6’1″ male athlete named Blaire Fleming, born Brayden, and is having the best season in program history. The team is off to a 9-0 start overall, 2-0 in the Mountain West Conference.
The Wyoming Cowgirls join Boise State and Southern Utah as schools that have decided to take a loss rather than play against the team with the obvious advantage.
‘It is important we stand for integrity and fairness in female athletics.’
“After a lengthy discussion, the University of Wyoming will not play its scheduled conference match against San José State University,” the team said in a statement. “Per Mountain West Conference policy, the Conference will record the match as a forfeit and a loss for Wyoming.”
The news is an about-face in the school’s stance. Just a week ago, it was reported that Wyoming would indeed play SJSU.
Though the schools have not given an official reason for their forfeits, Fleming’s own teammate even said the reasons were obvious.
“I think we all know the reason the games are canceled,” senior SJSU player Brooke Slusser told Blaze News.
Slusser said that she fully supports the decisions of the other teams not to play her squad, adding, “If I was in their shoes, I’d probably do the same thing.”
Wyoming’s governor, Mark Gordon, also said he supports the school’s decision to forfeit the match.
“It is important we stand for integrity and fairness in female athletics,” the governor wrote on X.
Following Wyoming’s forfeit, SJSU provided a statement to OutKick about the situation:
“It is disappointing that our SJSU student athletes, who are in full compliance with NCAA and Mountain West rules and regulations, are being denied opportunities to compete,” the school said via email.
SJSU added that the school is committed to supporting its athletes and is dedicated to providing an “inclusive, fair, safe and respectful environment.”
However, according to Slusser, the school has not been very supportive of its female volleyball players and instead has kept its focus on its only transgender player.
“We’ve had meetings, and it’s a lot of just checking in on Blaire. … We were like ‘what about us?'” Slusser said. “It’s mostly just saying you can’t be the person to … identify Blaire’s gender identity. ‘Blaire needs to do that for himself.'”
Slusser then explained, “Everyone above you is telling you you shouldn’t be talking for Blaire, you need to make sure the other person is okay; and [the management] is not thinking about, ‘Are we okay?'”
Slusser has joined a lawsuit that asks the NCAA to stop allowing male athletes to compete against females and to keep them out of female locker rooms. The lawsuit stems from women’s aquatic competitions that included Lia Thomas, the “trans woman” who dominated the 2022 NCAA swimming championships.
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