The mother of a Division I volleyball player who will face a male athlete this season said the NCAA is threatening her daughter’s safety by allowing a transgender person to compete against women.
“They have worked so hard for this, and to have that stripped away, to play with a male athlete, is unthinkable,” Idaho mom April Chainey told The Daily Signal. “It’s unconscionable that the NCAA allows them to be unsafe and have an unfair advantage.”
Biological male volleyball player Blaire Fleming—born Brayden, according to Reduxx—has led California’s San Jose State University in an undefeated season.
In San Jose’s Thursday match against the University of San Francisco, Fleming had 11 kills, two aces, and two blocks. The San Jose Spartans beat the San Francisco Dons 3-0, bringing the Spartans’ record for the season to 7-0.
Fleming is a 6’1″ redshirt junior. The volleyball athlete transferred from Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina before the 2021-2022 season. In May 2022, the Save Women’s Sports Act took effect in South Carolina, prohibiting biological males from competing in girls’ and women’s sports.
California law allows transgender-identifying athletes to compete on teams in accordance with their gender identity.
Chainey’s daughter has diligently worked her way to the Division 1 level, the mother said, but that’s not why she decided to speak out.
“It’s so much bigger than her or her Nevada team or the Mountain West Conference,” Chainey said. “It comes down to the NCAA not making a safe and fair, level playing field for our women athletes in collegiate sports.”
Males have a biological advantage over women in volleyball that endangers women, she said.
For example, high school volleyball player Payton McNabb suffered a concussion and neck injury in November 2022 after a transgender opponent spiked the ball in her face at an estimated 76 mph.
“I know firsthand the mental and physical toll it takes for female volleyball players to be faced with a male athlete who not only has an obvious physical advantage, but poses a physical threat,” McNabb told The Daily Signal. “It’s disappointing to see the NCAA yet again sacrificing safety and putting the burden on the backs of high-level female athletes to say, ‘Enough is enough.’”
Chainey fears that young women who play against Fleming could receive life-altering injuries similar to those suffered by McNabb.
“I am scared for every single player that has to play against them, because there’s that potential of a higher risk,” Chainey said. “The ball is moving faster. It’s stronger. Every male person is biologically made bigger, faster, and stronger.”
The net in men’s volleyball is over 7.5 inches higher to compensate for the increased velocity, jump height, and power men have. Even men would be more likely to get concussions if they played volleyball against each other with a women’s net height, according to Marshi Smith of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports.
“When you lower the net and allow a male to play against women whose bone density is lower, who are actually more susceptible to concussion than men in general,” Marshi said, “you’re increasing risk of harm during impact, and so it becomes a really dangerous situation.”
San Jose State was supposed to play two games on Sept. 14 at the Santa Clara Tournament, but one opponent, Southern Utah University, canceled the game.
Southern Utah neither confirmed nor denied that Fleming being transgender was the reason for the cancellation, according to OutKick.
The women of the Southern Utah volleyball team inspired Chainey to speak out.
“These poor girls—they have been asked to make very uncomfortable decisions that should be being made from the top,” Chainey said. “The NCAA has put them in this situation. They should not even have to make these types of decisions.”
Chainey is devastated to see the NCAA threatening women’s volleyball careers by setting them up to lose to a team with a biological male. The NCAA did not immediately respond to The Daily Signal’s request for comment.
“For these players to risk everything that they have worked so hard for, it saddens me,” she said. “It’s infuriating that the NCAA is allowing this. My daughter wants to continue on and go overseas and play internationally. This could potentially be career-ending.”
Chainey had never spoken to a reporter before, but said she felt called to use her voice to bring awareness to the NCAA’s continuing to force female athletes to compete against males.
“I’ve talked to parents this week. I’ve talked to players this week,” she said. “And you know what? Everyone is afraid to speak up. I feel that the more people that speak up, the less courage it takes for that next person to speak up. And then, eventually, there’s a tipping point where everything goes in the other direction. That’s why I am putting my name out there, on the record.”
“Being afraid to speak is not freedom,” Chainey continued. “Being truthful is not unkind, and being coerced is not consent. And the NCAA is providing an environment for all of these to thrive in.”
The NCAA has failed to secure fair and safe sports for women on the court and in the locker room, she added.
“I am not against trans athletes,” Chainey said. “I am not against trans athletes at all. I am for women athletes to compete on a safe and fair, level playing field. And that is something that the NCAA has failed to do over and over again.”
Women’s sports are in danger, Chainey said.
“This is the future of women’s sports,” the mother said, “and a fair, safe, level playing field is on the line.”
