The contentious question of allowing biological male athletes to compete with, and against, biological females has become a national flashpoint. It has even made its divisive way into stark promotional ads during the current presidential election. It has gotten ugly.
That lawsuit, filed against the governing body for U.S. collegiate sports, has been joined by a female SJS teammate who made the allegation though the player in question has not said anything about their gender identity. Several Spartan opponents have refused to play SJS as well. The situation is ongoing.
Still, not every case involving a biological male competing with females is the same; there can be distinct nuances in individual examples. One has been playing out at Half Moon Bay High School over the last several years. A biological male has been participating on the Cougars’ female volleyball team.
The teen (we will not use the name as a bow to personal privacy) is a competent, power-hitting, 6-foot varsity junior who is not a starter and, according to people familiar with the program, is not the team’s dominant player.
According to the parents, their youngster has been accepted by teammates and appears to be coping as adulthood beckons. For the most part, they said in an interview last week in San Bruno where Half Moon Bay was facing Capuchino High School in an important Peninsula Athletic League Ocean Division match, their child has handled pressure about as well as could be expected.
But it hasn’t been smooth sailing at times. Last year, a parent of an opposing team blamed the lanky Cougar for his daughter’s alleged concussion and took to social media to complain. Internet video footage was involved.
Earlier this season, a team refused to play against the Cougars because of the player’s presence on the Half Moon Bay roster. On occasion, there has been some added security at matches involving the Cougars.
At a tournament this fall, some parents were particularly rude and loud, verbally harassing the youngster in question and the Cougars. It became a nasty scene. Those parents were reprimanded and warned. The bullying behavior stopped, according to witnesses.
But those incidents have been the exceptions to a general rule of tolerance, empathy and live-and-let-live. For the most part, it appears that the coastal teens involved are relatively comfortable with the situation.
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The athlete’s parents said there have been no problems within the program. “The team and the school have been great,” the mother said. “(Our child) is accepted and has been throughout. That includes club volleyball.”
Still, the decision to identify as a female and compete with and against girls is controversial. Important issues of player safety and competitive fairness are magnified because of the very public nature of prep sports, not to mention their young age and vulnerability — and the national attention the issue has been receiving during a volatile election year.
In California, though, the issue is moot. The California Interscholastic Federation, the governing body of prep athletics here, is very clear: These individuals have the right to compete with and against the gender they may choose.
As longtime PAL Commissioner Terry Stogner pointed out last week, “We have no authority in a case like this. It is out of our hands. But we are monitoring it carefully.”
So, really, he explained, if someone has a complaint, it should not be directed at the teen, the family, the school or the PAL; it’s CIF officials and state legislators who should to be contacted, he offered.
For Stogner and other area prep sports authorities, their aim is to help those involved and affected to navigate the sensitive and complex concerns inherent in such circumstances.
COUGARS TO KEEP PLAYING: On a related note, Half Moon Bay has been in contention for the 2024 girls’ volleyball championship of the PAL’s Ocean Division, a designated B league (one step below the top Bay division) within the Central Coast Section, which stretches from San Francisco south to King City.
Regardless of the eventual outcome of the regular season (which was set to conclude Tuesday night on the Coastside), Half Moon Bay will advance to the upcoming section playoffs.
The CCS playoff seeding meeting is scheduled for Thursday. Brackets, along with Half Moon Bay’s specific placement, will be announced when those are finalized.
Good for Half Moon Bay High for supporting this trans girl. She is facing enough danger and hatred in the world without having people attack her for playing sports. I would encourage her also to explore martial arts and self defense training, because people can get truly ugly when provided with a target for their own insecurity with the world.
Come on Westy - this kid is provocative. Why would a boy in his right mind want to play sports with girls? Just because he thinks that he should be a girl? Hate is a strong word, Westy. There is no hate and that is not the same as rolling ones eyes and other gestures that cackling Kamala would like to outlaw. .
Thank you John Horgan for writing a balanced, fair article on this important issue! Much better than a year and a half ago in this paper when those (like me) wanting to keep female sports female were called all manner of terrible names and attempts were made to censor our opinions.
I do want to point out that it really doesn't matter if this player is a starter or not particularly good. Every time he plays, a girl sits on the bench. And assuming the team made cuts (as most larger schools do), a boy took a girl's place on the team.
Also we really do not know if every girl on the team accepts this boy. Girls are told to "be kind" and while of course no one should be harassed, that can mean not speaking up, even when they feel something is wrong.
This is an issue about fairness and safety for girls in sports. Sports are played with bodies, which have a sex, not a "gender identity". And the category here is GIRLS sports, just as Little League is for players 12 and under. While it is correct that changing policy would require changes at the state/CIF level (many are lobbying there as well), raising awareness locally is important too. Certainly families of players on other teams have the right to know that their girls are playing against a co-ed team.
Never underestimate girls! I once had a girlfriend who could beat just about any boy in sports, esp. running and swimming, and who also was like a queen down the slalom course, with a much smother style than me, who had been skiing since I could walk, almost. She also had looks to match, and ended up with a PhD i math and a full math professorship at a recognized university. Beat that one, boys!
I don't underestimate girls, that is why I want them to have fair competition. Some girls can beat some boys sometimes. I used to beat many boys in swimming. But at every level comparing apples to apples, boys/men outperform girls/women. That's why we separate the sexes in competition. No woman has ever played in the NFL, MLB, NBA, broken a men's world record in the Olympics, etc.
Thanks for your column, Mr. Horgan. It should be noted there was a recent report (ignored by the mainstream media) from the UN regarding the injustice of biological men competing against biological women (article links: https://nypost.com/2024/10/23/opinion/un-report-proves-trans-athletes-in-womens-sports-is-a-problem/ and https://nypost.com/2024/10/23/world-news/un-reveals-how-many-female-athletes-have-lost-medals-to-trans-opponents-in-explosive-report/ and the UN report link: https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/249/94/pdf/n2424994.pdf). It appears selfishness rather than sportsmanship is the priority for some these days as well as the folks pushing this injustice. Food for thought… will Title IX eventually be rescinded? Can we merge the WTA with the ATP? LPGA with the PGA? WNBA with the NBA?
Jumping in before the comments inevitably get nasty to offer kudos to Half Moon Bay High for supporting her as she deals with what is undoubtedly a difficult environment, at least occasionally. No one goes through all the soul searching and still rampant social stigma involved in a transition to play sports.
No one said anyone goes through this "just to play sports". Regardless of their reasons it is still unfair to girls though. And the nastiness comes from the trans activist side.
I doubt the real girls on the HMB volleyball are okay with a male playing on their team, The school, AG Bonta, Newsom and other democrats basically tell them to agree, and shut up or you will be charged with a hate crime.
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(13) comments
Why can't the trans compete against each other, a kind of special olympics?
Good for Half Moon Bay High for supporting this trans girl. She is facing enough danger and hatred in the world without having people attack her for playing sports. I would encourage her also to explore martial arts and self defense training, because people can get truly ugly when provided with a target for their own insecurity with the world.
Come on Westy - this kid is provocative. Why would a boy in his right mind want to play sports with girls? Just because he thinks that he should be a girl? Hate is a strong word, Westy. There is no hate and that is not the same as rolling ones eyes and other gestures that cackling Kamala would like to outlaw. .
Thank you John Horgan for writing a balanced, fair article on this important issue! Much better than a year and a half ago in this paper when those (like me) wanting to keep female sports female were called all manner of terrible names and attempts were made to censor our opinions.
I do want to point out that it really doesn't matter if this player is a starter or not particularly good. Every time he plays, a girl sits on the bench. And assuming the team made cuts (as most larger schools do), a boy took a girl's place on the team.
Also we really do not know if every girl on the team accepts this boy. Girls are told to "be kind" and while of course no one should be harassed, that can mean not speaking up, even when they feel something is wrong.
This is an issue about fairness and safety for girls in sports. Sports are played with bodies, which have a sex, not a "gender identity". And the category here is GIRLS sports, just as Little League is for players 12 and under. While it is correct that changing policy would require changes at the state/CIF level (many are lobbying there as well), raising awareness locally is important too. Certainly families of players on other teams have the right to know that their girls are playing against a co-ed team.
Thanks again for brining attention to this issue.
Never underestimate girls! I once had a girlfriend who could beat just about any boy in sports, esp. running and swimming, and who also was like a queen down the slalom course, with a much smother style than me, who had been skiing since I could walk, almost. She also had looks to match, and ended up with a PhD i math and a full math professorship at a recognized university. Beat that one, boys!
I don't underestimate girls, that is why I want them to have fair competition. Some girls can beat some boys sometimes. I used to beat many boys in swimming. But at every level comparing apples to apples, boys/men outperform girls/women. That's why we separate the sexes in competition. No woman has ever played in the NFL, MLB, NBA, broken a men's world record in the Olympics, etc.
Thanks for your column, Mr. Horgan. It should be noted there was a recent report (ignored by the mainstream media) from the UN regarding the injustice of biological men competing against biological women (article links: https://nypost.com/2024/10/23/opinion/un-report-proves-trans-athletes-in-womens-sports-is-a-problem/ and https://nypost.com/2024/10/23/world-news/un-reveals-how-many-female-athletes-have-lost-medals-to-trans-opponents-in-explosive-report/ and the UN report link: https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/249/94/pdf/n2424994.pdf). It appears selfishness rather than sportsmanship is the priority for some these days as well as the folks pushing this injustice. Food for thought… will Title IX eventually be rescinded? Can we merge the WTA with the ATP? LPGA with the PGA? WNBA with the NBA?
Jumping in before the comments inevitably get nasty to offer kudos to Half Moon Bay High for supporting her as she deals with what is undoubtedly a difficult environment, at least occasionally. No one goes through all the soul searching and still rampant social stigma involved in a transition to play sports.
No one said anyone goes through this "just to play sports". Regardless of their reasons it is still unfair to girls though. And the nastiness comes from the trans activist side.
I doubt the real girls on the HMB volleyball are okay with a male playing on their team, The school, AG Bonta, Newsom and other democrats basically tell them to agree, and shut up or you will be charged with a hate crime.
So you admit people have souls - who creates souls? I'll wait.
Clever! I'll take a stab in the dark, God?
I agree with you, John!
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.