SJSU Volleyball Coach 'Disappointed' Teams Don't Want To Play Against Transgender Blaire Fleming
San Jose State volleyball played its first game on Thursday night since three Mountain West schools announced they would forfeit rather than play the Spartans and transgender starter Blaire Fleming.
Colorado State hosted San Jose State at Moby Arena and the Rams soundly defeated the Spartans in straight sets. San Jose State played without its top player, Nayeli Ti'a.
The school told OutKick that Ti'a suffered an injury during a practice last week and was not available for the match.
That put Blaire Fleming in a position to serve as the team's top hitter, and Fleming struggled against the Rams.
Fleming led the team in kills with 14, but also committed nearly half (10) of the team's total hitting errors (22).
San Jose State volleyball coach Todd Kress says he's "disappointed" opponents are forfeiting against his team rather than play against transgender Blaire Fleming.
(San Jose State Athletics)
Perhaps the drama surrounding Fleming's inclusion on the roster affected the redshirt senior's performance.
The San Jose State coach says it's hurting the players that opponents don't want to play against transgender Blaire Fleming.
After the match, Spartans head coach Todd Kress said he was "disappointed" that his team was "losing opportunities to play" but did not reference why, exactly, schools don't want to face San Jose State.
"I walked up to [Colorado State head coach] Emily [Kohan], and I was like, ‘Should I say thank you for playing us tonight?’ And I seriously meant that," Kress said, according to The Denver Post.
"It’s not just us that are losing opportunities to play," Kress continued.
"It’s the people choosing not to play us, and that’s very unfortunate when it comes to these young women who have earned the right to step on the court and play."
Well, Coach Kress, people are "choosing not to play" your team because your team chooses to roster a biological male. You've made a choice, so they've made their own choice.
That's kind of how this works.
"And so I just think that we’re in a position where it appears that government and politics have kind of intertwined itself with college sports," Kress added.
San Jose State volleyball coach Todd Kress says he's "disappointed" opponents are forfeiting against his team rather than play against transgender Blaire Fleming.
(Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
"That’s one area that government, I don’t think, should be involved. And so it seems, or at least it appears, that some of those decisions are being made at levels where they’re denying their student-athletes to play."
I completely agree with you there, Coach Kress. The government shouldn't need to be involved with these decisions at all.
Common sense should prevail, and common sense tells us that people born male have biological physical advantages over those born female and thus shouldn't compete in women's sports.
It's a simple issue, not a complicated one.
Unfortunately, the NCAA has repeatedly tried to ignore this issue and now the government is stepping in to try and protect women's sports and private spaces.
I wish politics weren't involved, as well, Coach Kress. I wish people just understood basic biology, and we didn't have to talk about this at all.
But that's not the case, so here we are.
Colorado State coach defends her team's decision to play against SJSU on Thursday night.
Colorado State head coach Emily Kohan also bemoaned that politics were involved with collegiate women's volleyball.
"Wouldn’t it be nice if none of us had to get involved with politics?" Kohan said, according to The Denver Post.
Colorado State head volleyball coach Emily Kohan said her team chose to play against San Jose State and transgender athlete Blaire Fleming out of "kindness."
(Chris Abshire/The Coloradoan/USA Today Network)
"I don’t have a strong desire to be a politician in the future. But I do have a strong desire to raise critical thinkers in my program.
"And for them to understand their own selves and what’s important to them, and be able to make really conscious and mature decisions out of that. And to always make those decisions out of kindness, right?"
This is a reasonable position for Coach Kohan, but a misguided one. The idea that allowing biological males to compete in women's sports is an act of "kindness" is just plain wrong.
I believe her when she says that her team thinks it was doing the "kind" thing (and, by extension, the "right" thing), but what they're really doing is opening the door for more of this.
When policies are led by feelings (like kindness) instead of by logic, reason and facts (like basic biology), then society comes apart.
That's why this is such a major issue. It's not just about allowing a confused young person to switch genders and play women's sports.
It's about setting policy based on feelings over facts.
We've seen where that gets us.
Do we really want more of it?