EXCLUSIVE: NIL Program Created For Athletes Who Want To Protect Women's Sports
XX-XY Athletics, the sports apparel company that openly supports the protection of women's sports, is starting an NIL program for athletes who share the same mission, OutKick has learned.
XX-XY Athletics founder Jennifer Sey has not been shy about her opposition to biological males competing in women's sports and invading women's spaces.
She and her company are creating GXME CHXNGERs, the first NIL program exclusively for female athletes who believe that women's sports are for women, only.
"While some athletic brands believe winning is everything, we define winning differently," the company said in a statement to OutKick. "That’s why we recognize and partner with female athletes who are true game changers, not just on the court, but off of it. And we want to help amplify their voices."
Among the athletes already on-board are three Mountain West volleyball players who were forced to compete with, and against, transgender San Jose State player Blaire Fleming.
Brooke Slusser, a teammate of Fleming's, Sia Liilii (University of Nevada, Reno) and Macey Boggs (University of Wyoming) all saw their volleyball seasons upended by having a male player competing in Mountain West women's volleyball.
Those three women are also included as plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the Mountain West Conference that alleges their Freedom of Speech and Title IX rights were violated by Fleming's presence.
"I could not be more honored and so excited to work with the XX-XY Athletics Brand," Slusser said of her partnership with XX-XY Athletics.
"I am so excited to partner with XX-XY Athletics in saving women’s sports," Boggs added. "This fight is far from over. I am pumped to stand with the brand in boldness and in truth."
There are seven athletes currently signed onto GXME CHXNGERs, across multiple sports. Heather Arnett (Softball, Pittsburg State University), Sara Casebolt (Track, University of Idaho), Ainsley Erzen (Soccer & Track, University of Arkansas) and Emma Vorpagel (Track, Northern Illinois University) join the three volleyball athletes.
"We are building a team of women who are outstanding athletes, but also outstanding people," the company statement continues. "Young women who demonstrate courage and character. Women with the steel to stand up and say - and do - the hard thing, not the popular thing, because their coaches, administrators and lawmakers will not."
While it might seem like supporting the protection of women's sports from males is a common-sense stance, it comes with backlash.
A USA Today writer accused the women of the Boise State volleyball team, who forfeited their Mountain West Conference semifinal match rather than face SJSU and Blaire Fleming, of being "committed to bigotry."
That's what these women face when they stand up for their beliefs. They endure verbal attacks and horrible name-calling.
Which is exactly why Sey and XX-XY Athletics chose to create their NIL program and dedicated it to the brave women who refuse to back down in their fight for fairness.
"While the growth in women’s sports grows at the fastest rate ever, athlete advocacy at the collegiate level is new," Sey told OutKick.
"Athlete advocates for women’s sports, and elite athletes are fed up with brands that won't support them. So, the first athletic brand to stand up for women started an NIL program to support their advocacy for XX-only sports and athletic achievements to change the game."