A high school girls’ volleyball team forfeited a California state playoff game — and their season — over a trans-identifying male player on the opposing team, the girls’ school said last week, calling the decision “heartbreaking.”
The Christian high school, Stone Ridge Christian in Merced, about a two hour drive east of San Jose, announced Friday that they would forfeit Saturday’s game against San Francisco Waldorf.
“Unfortunately, we were just informed that our opponent, San Francisco Waldorf, has a male athlete playing for their team,” Stone Ridge Christian administrator Julie Fagundes wrote in a message to families.
The school was clear about why they made the decision to forfeit.
“At SRC, we believe God’s Word is authoritative and infallible. It is Truth. And as Genesis makes clear, God wonderfully and immutably created each person as male or female. We do not believe sex is changeable and we do not intend to participate in events that send a different message,” Stone Ridge Christian wrote.
The school added that it also has “a duty and responsibility to care for the health and safety of our athletes.”
“So after consulting with our students, coaches, and staff, we have made the difficult decision to forfeit Saturday’s game,” the school said. “Standing for Biblical truth means more than the outcome of a game.”
“This is a heartbreaking end to our season, but I hope you will join me in congratulating these outstanding student-athletes. SRC is proud of them,” Stone Ridge Christian said.
The alleged male athlete, Henry Hanlon, is reportedly San Francisco Waldorf’s star player and captain.
Hanlon scored at least a third of the school’s points in four consecutive games back in January.
The teams play under the California Interscholastic Federation, which enacted “Gender Identity Participation” rules in 2013.
“All students should have the opportunity to participate in CIF activities in a manner that is consistent with their gender identity,” the Federation’s policy states.
Last school year, an Islamic high school also reportedly forfeited a game to San Francisco Waldorf because it did not want its female athletes playing a contact sport with a male or sharing locker rooms with him.
Backlash to biological men in girls’ sports was a driving force during the presidential election cycle this year with President-elect Donald Trump frequently mentioning the issue at his campaign rallies.
Two thirds of Americans now say trans-identifying male athletes should “never” or only “in rare cases” be allowed to compete on girls’ sports teams, according to a Los Angeles Times survey from earlier this year.
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