A volleyball player who can spike a ball at 80 mph has an unfair advantage over his opponents, a new complaint says, and at least one college has canceled a match against the player’s team.
Blaire Fleming, a right-sided outside hitter for San Jose State University (SJSU), is a junior at the school.
According to her teammate Brooke Slusser, she has confessed that she is a biological male.
Teammate Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA over the player’s inclusion. In an addendum to the suit, she said Fleming, who Slusser says is biologically male, was spiking balls “faster than I’ve ever seen a woman hit a volleyball.” State of the Cowboys Diary reported.
“The girls were doing everything they could to dodge Fleming’s spikes, but still couldn’t fully protect themselves,” she wrote in the addendum, according to the publication, which saw the lawsuit.
Blaire Fleming (pictured) is spiking balls “faster than (a teammate) had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball”
Blaire Fleming, an outside hitter and right side hitter for San Jose State University (SJSU), is a junior at the school.
Fleming transferred from Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina, where she played on the women’s team, shortly after the state passed the Save Women’s Sports bill, which would have banned her from playing on women’s teams.
The player also participated in her high school girls’ team at John Champe High School in Virginia, according to Reduxx.
Slusser, who transferred from Alabama, said in the proposal that she had no idea Fleming was born biologically male, but noted that she had “a jumping ability and power that surpassed that of any girl on the team,” according to Kickoff.
He began to hear conversations between teammates about the player.
“The girls were doing everything they could to dodge Fleming’s spikes, but still were unable to fully protect themselves,” Slusser (pictured) wrote in the lawsuit.
Slusser was even more surprised when Fleming asked to room with her during her volleyball trips.
After months of rooming together, Fleming took his teammate aside and admitted to being transgender, Slusser said in the proposed addition to the lawsuit.
Slusser, several other women and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines are suing the NCAA for allowing Fleming to participate in Division I sports, Cowboy State Daily reported.
They argue that Fleming poses a risk to biological female athletes because the 1.85-metre player hits too hard and has an unfair advantage.
Fleming currently ranks as the team’s second-leading player with 103 shots and 118.5 points scored this season.
The NCAA has already responded to a draft version of the lawsuit, saying the plaintiffs cannot file a sex discrimination claim against the organization because it is a rule-setting body and not a state university, Cowboy State Daily reported.
The organization also said the women cannot penalize other state organizations simply for following NCAA rules.
Slusser, who transferred from Alabama, said she had no idea Fleming was supposedly born biologically male, despite noting she had “a jumping ability and power that was beyond any girl on the team.”
Fleming transferred from Coastal Carolina University in South Carolina, where she played on the women’s team, shortly after the state passed the Save Women’s Sports Bill, which would have banned her from playing on women’s teams.
Fleming plays for Coastal Carolina with the number 11 jersey.
Southern Utah University canceled its Sept. 14 game against the undefeated team, though it did not confirm that Fleming was at fault, according to Cowboy State Daily.
The team told Outkick it only wanted to compete in two conference games that weekend.
No other team has canceled a game against San Jose State, the team confirmed to Cowboy State Daily, declining to discuss Fleming’s gender.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Fleming, Slusser and SJSU head coach Todd Kress for comment.
The University of Wyoming, which is scheduled to play SJSU on Oct. 5, recently discussed safety issues and concerns with the team and decided to play the California team.
After months of sharing rooms, Fleming took Slusser (pictured) aside and admitted to being transgender, the teammate claims.
Slusser joined the lawsuit against the NCAA because she feels uncomfortable having Fleming on the team, although she said she does not want the athlete to suffer harassment.
“No student-athletes expressed any concerns regarding their safety,” UW spokesman Chad Baldwin told Cowboy State Daily.
However, individual team members and coaches’ opinions “regarding fairness vary,” Baldwin said.
Slusser said he doesn’t want Fleming to be harassed, but is concerned about his safety, Outkick reported.
“One thing that’s really important in this case is the physical safety issues in volleyball,” her attorney, Bill Bock, told Outkick.
“And that’s what they face in practice every single day. So it’s just a crazy, misguided policy that steals women’s athletic dreams and gives them to men, while at the same time endangering women’s health and safety.”
According to Outkick, Slusser and other team members frequently worried that Fleming’s power could cause a concussion if he was hit too hard.
A mother of an opposing player told Reduxx that her daughter had dealt with more injuries and physical strains than ever before and was constantly icing and rubbing her arms after blocking Fleming’s shots during two games.
Fleming has not publicly commented on her teammate’s allegations.
“At times he was practically unstoppable. He would jump so high that I was worried our blockers wouldn’t be able to defend against such a quick hit,” the mother said.
‘Coincidentally, in those two games, my daughter’s stats were not as good as most of the others. Her stats were drastically different because she was trying to compete against a guy who, according to my daughter, looked at her with indifference after every game and was extremely arrogant.’
Additionally, an SJSU teammate alleged that the school told them they were prohibited from discussing Fleming’s biological sex outside of the team and that “things would go badly for team members” if they did, Outkick said.
Slusser’s attorney said the player joined the lawsuit because she disagrees with the NCAA’s transgender eligibility rules and sees them as an impediment to the achievements of female athletes.
“The reason for this is that there are inherent physical differences between men and women, and those physical differences should be cause for celebration, but by allowing men great opportunities and athletic potential, based solely on biology, they prevent women from winning titles, celebrating and being acclaimed for their own unique physical abilities,” said attorney Bock.
Fleming played on her high school girls’ team at John Champe High School in Virginia.
Marshi Smith of the Independent Women’s Sports Council condemned the NCAA for “defrauding female athletes by withholding information about the true sex of a teammate or opponent,” as Slusser said she was never told during the recruiting process that a transgender athlete was on the team.
“Women are not given the opportunity to decide whether they want to face increased safety risks on the pitch or share female locker rooms with men,” she told Reduxx.
“The NCAA’s reward system encourages cheating, creating financial and academic advantages for men at the expense of girls and young women in sports. This harmful practice must stop immediately.”
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn called Fleming’s participation a “slap in the face to all female athletes” in a post on Facebook.
“Why does the NCAA pretend that it is ‘fair’ for biological men to compete against women?” she wrote.
‘Just look at how hard and fast biological male Blaire Fleming of San Jose State hits the ball. It’s unfair and dangerous.’
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