Getty ImagesBlaire Fleming
NOS Sport•vandaag, 06:15
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Anne van Eijk
editor NOS Sport
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Anne van Eijk
editor NOS Sport
In American college volleyball, a match against San Jose State was boycotted last week for the fifth time this season. The fact that teams cancel matches with that particular team has everything to do with one player: Blaire Fleming.
Rumor has it that Fleming is a trans woman. It is said by, among others, her teammate Brooke Slusser that she hits balls of 128 kilometers per hour – speeds that not even all top male volleyball players can reach – and that she therefore poses a danger to opponents. To reinforce those rumors, videos are shared in which a smash by Fleming lands hard in the face of an opponent.
Neither Fleming nor the team make any official statements about her gender, yet she is the center of a now heated national discussion in the United States.
Active for four years
And that is quite special, because Fleming has been active in American college volleyball for four years. “We have always just played against her when we did not yet know that she is a trans woman,” says Dutch Myrthe Maring, who has played volleyball at college level in the United States in recent years.
“And no one has ever said: I’m really not going to play against her, because she hits so hard. And the fact that someone hits so hard is not necessarily very new. Many players have had a ball in the face. But because people Now knowing that she is a trans woman, it is different.”
Garett GrafMyrthe Maring (right) tries to block a ball from Blaire Fleming
The fact that the entire US now knows is because Slusser, captain of San Jose State, has sounded the alarm. She was Fleming’s roommate for years without knowing that Fleming is a trans woman. After questions from Slusser, Fleming eventually confirmed that she was a trans woman.
Slusser has since joined more than a dozen other female athletes in suing the NCAA for violations of Title IXthe federal statute that guarantees equal opportunities for men and women in university education and sports.
Political position
Maring: “The teams that do not want to play the matches now say that they do so for safety reasons. And safety is of course very important, but I also have the feeling that it is more of a political position than that they actually do not want to play against her. play because she hits so hard.”
“America is very clearly divided into two parts: the Republican side is generally conservative and thinks it is not possible, the liberal side thinks it is no problem that trans women participate in women’s competitions.”
Two weeks ago, presidential candidate Donald Trump also contributed to the riot surrounding volleyball star Fleming. According to him, trans people should not be welcome in women’s competitions.
The Nevada volleyball players, who had to play against San Jose State last weekend, felt supported. They rebelled when the University of Nevada would not cancel the game. And with success, because Nevada decided not to play against San Jose State.
The official reason given was that the team had a shortage of players, but captain Sia Liilii told a press conference what the real reason was: the players had refused “to participate in a competition that promotes injustice against female athletes”.
American Association Guidelines
The position that transgender women should not be allowed to participate in women’s competitions is at odds with the guidelines of the American Volleyball Association. The NCAA, the organization under which college volleyball falls, follows the association’s guidelines in the case of trans people. And it can be read that – under conditions – they are indeed welcome.
Getty ImagesBlaire Fleming
“Athletes who wish to participate in a competition of the opposite sex than assigned at birth must notify the association at least six weeks before the start of the competition,” the guidelines read.
The association also reports that male hormones may give transgender women an unfair advantage. To prevent this, the following guideline is used: “The testosterone level should not exceed the upper limit of women in the same age group.”
International association guidelines
The world volleyball association FIVB also has guidelines for the participation of transgender people, which largely correspond with the American ones. On the basis of physiological (height, weight, muscle mass, etc.) and medical factors (including the age at which gender reassignment was undergone and testosterone level), it is determined whether a trans person does not have an advantage over women in the competition and is therefore allowed to participate .”
Despite the clear guidelines, the umbrella association NCAA remains remarkably silent on the current issue. Maring: “The NCAA is already in the middle of a lawsuit, in which they are being sued by Slusser, among others, for violations of Title IX. So they are not making many statements about this case at this time.”
Gloria Nevarez, a spokesperson for the Mountain West conference, the region that includes San Jose State, said: “It breaks my heart because on both sides of this discussion it’s about people, about young girls. And they get very a lot of negative attention because of this. It doesn’t feel good. This is not what we encourage in college competitions.”
