BOISE, ID (WSAU) – The Boise State women’s volleyball team is making national headlines after announcing they would be forfeiting Saturday’s match against undefeated San Jose State (10-0) due to the team allowing biological male and star player Blaire Fleming to play.
According to Outkick, who received an exclusive copy of a statement from the program, “Boise State volleyball will not play its scheduled match at San José State on Saturday, Sept. 28. Per Mountain West Conference policy, the conference will record the match as a forfeit and a loss for Boise State. The Broncos will next compete on Oct. 3 against Air Force.”
The decision by Boise State makes them the first team to officially drop out of a game against San Jose State this year, though the outlet reports that both the University of Southern Utah and Wyoming had considered forfeiting their match against the Spartans over the same safety concerns.
Outkick also released a statement by the NCAA on the matter, which said, “College sports are the premier stage for women’s sports in America, and the NCAA members will continue to promote Title IX, make unprecedented investments in women’s sports, and ensure fair competition for all student-athletes in all NCAA championships.”
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) filed a lawsuit against the NCAA over the organization allowing biological men to not only play women’s sports but also become roommates with biological female athletes. One of the ICONS members is Brooke Slusser, a teammate of Blaire Fleming, who says she was assigned as roommates with Fleming and states in the lawsuit that she was never made aware that Fleming is a biological male.
Fleming was a member of the varsity girls’ volleyball team at John Champe High School in Virginia and set the school records for most kills in a single match and a single season (266). Fleming also participated in the women’s volleyball program at Coastal Carolina University before relocating to California. His move coincided with the passage of the Save Women’s Sports Act in South Carolina, which would have prohibited him from playing on women’s teams.
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