There’s more gender controversy in the world of California volleyball, but this time it’s at the high school level.
Stone Ridge Christian, a high school in central California, has forfeited an upcoming girls volleyball playoff match to protest the presence of a transgender player on San Francisco Waldorf’s opponent.
The forfeit comes amid ongoing controversy surrounding the San Jose State women’s team, which has seen a string of opponents forfeit games in protest against the Spartans’ Blaire Fleming, a star player who is reportedly transgender.
Stone Ridge Christian administrator Julie Fagundes announced the decision in a letter to team parents, saying the school essentially decided to end the volleyball season rather than face a transgender opponent.
“As many of you know, our girls won on Wednesday and advanced to the state playoffs,” read Fagundes’ letter. “Unfortunately, we have just learned that our opponent, San Francisco Waldorf, has a male athlete for its team.
A week ago, the school’s volleyball account posted a photo of players in prayer
“At SRC we believe that God’s Word is authoritative and inerrant,” she continued. ‘It’s the truth. And as Genesis makes clear, God miraculously and immutably created each person as male or female. We do not believe that sex is changeable and we do not intend to participate in events that convey a different message.”
But the decision to give up, and thus end the season, was not made strictly on religious grounds, according to Fagundes.
“We also have a duty and responsibility to ensure the health and safety of our athletes,” she wrote. “So after consultation with our students, coaches and staff, we have made the difficult decision to forfeit Saturday’s game.
‘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.’
Founded in 2000, Stone Ridge Christian High School says its mission is to teach the Bible
But the consequences of SRC’s decision could extend beyond this season.
As reported by the San Francisco Chronicle, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has the right to penalize any team that forfeits.
“Any team that withdraws from the CIF playoffs is subject to sanctions at both the section and state levels,” a CIF spokesperson told The Chronicle. “No decision has been made at this time regarding future sanctions.”
Fagundes and the SRC volleyball players were praised online for their decision to forfeit the match and end their season.
‘Agree!’ wrote someone on X. “Courage is contagious.”
Another said: ‘We are proud of you!! You are heroes!!”
One critic wrote that it was “so sad that these girls worked hard to get to this point” and then forfeited while the “team with the mentally ill guy” emerged victorious.
The CIF also has guidelines on integrating trans athletes into scholastic sports.
Fagundes and the SRC volleyball players were praised online for their decision to forfeit
According to the organization’s website, all students have the opportunity to participate “in a manner consistent with their gender identity, regardless of the gender listed on a student’s records.”
‘The student and/or the student’s school may use the following procedure below to determine whether the student or the school is eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics in a gender that does not correspond to the gender assigned to him or her at birth . have questions or need guidance in making the decision,” according to the CIF website.
“Once the student becomes eligible to participate in interscholastic athletics, consistent with his/her gender identity, eligibility is granted for the duration of the student’s participation and does not need to be renewed each athletic season or school year.”
The CIF guarantees that “all discussions and documentation will be kept confidential and the proceedings will be sealed unless the student and their family make a specific request.”
The San Francisco Waldorf School will now face off against St. Vincent de Paul on Tuesday evening.
Stone Ridge Christian was founded in 2000 with the mission of helping parents “fulfill” the “God-given” responsibility of teaching the Bible to students.
“Together with parents and the church, Stone Ridge Christian School exists to educate students in developing their unique, God-given (sic) potential,” read the mission statement on the school’s website.
“Students will be equipped academically, spiritually, physically and socially to impact their community and the world for God.”