According to recent reports, players in the Mountain West volleyball tournament decided to kneel in protest over the weekend in the matchup against San Jose State and Colorado State. The highly anticipated volleyball championship already featured substantial controversy surrounding San Jose State’s transgender player Blaire Fleming.
Reporter Dan Zaksheske covered the incident involving the anthem protest from several Colorado State players, posting on X, “The three Colorado State players knelt again for the national anthem prior to the championship game, just as they did for the semifinal yesterday.” Following the game Colorado State head coach Emily Kohan shed light onto the decision from her players to kneel for the anthem.
“They’ve knelt since their freshman year, when the Black Lives Matter movement was going on, and, in this program, we raise critical thinkers to make decisions for what’s important to them,” Kohan explained. “And, for those three, they’re Black players, and it’s been important to them for five years. And they’ve stood their ground for saying that this is something that they believe in, and we’ve all supported them.”
Furthermore, Kohan addressed the controversy surrounding Fleming, where many teams have forfeited matches against San Jose State, striving to protect the sanctity of female sports. “This has been far from a regular season. We get an opportunity to play for another championship tomorrow, but we also are showing some courage to be the team that says, ‘Hey, we’re going to go out there, and we’re gonna show courage in the way we play and that this can stop with us,’” the coach added. “We’re not going to pass these difficult conversations on to the NCAA committee or any other team to have those crying conversations in the hotel.”
San Jose State head coach Todd Kress suggested that he was thankful to even have the opportunity to play the game. “I walked up to Emily tonight, and I was like, ‘Should I say thank you for playing us?’ I seriously meant that because, of course, we’re disappointed that we’re losing opportunities to play, but it’s not just us that are losing opportunities to play. It’s the people choosing not to play us, and that’s very unfortunate when it comes to these young women that have earned the right to step on the court and play,” Kress said in a postgame press conference in October.
The American Tribune recently reported on a ruling from a federal judge that would allow Blaire Fleming to play in the conference tournament. Federal Judge S. Kato Crew, appointed by President Biden, ruled that Fleming would be allowed to compete on the San Jose State women’s volleyball team, thwarting efforts to prevent the transgender-identifying athlete from competing.
“San José State University will continue to support its student-athletes and reject discrimination in all forms. All San José State University student-athletes are eligible to participate in their sports under NCAA and Mountain West Conference rules,” according to a statement from the university provided to Outkick. “We are gratified that the Court rejected an eleventh-hour attempt to change those rules. Our team looks forward to competing in the Mountain West volleyball tournament this week.”
Watch Trump vow to end gender reassignment surgeries for children below:
"*" indicates required fields