Girls’ soccer team forfeits game against rivals with trans player

Students at Bishop Brady High School in Concord, New Hampshire, refused to play against Kearsarge Regional High School

A girls’ soccer team forfeited a match after their opponents were allowed to play with a transgender goalkeeper.
Students at Bishop Brady High School in Concord, New Hampshire, refused to play in the match against Kearsarge Regional High School in North Sutton on Friday because their goalkeeper, Maelle Jacques, is a biological male, according to reports.
Players for Bishop Brady Giants, the Catholic school’s team, said the Kearsarge Cougars were at an advantage and they boycotted the game in order to “say no to unfair competition”, the Moms for Liberty group of Hillsborough County posted on social media.
The goalkeeper, 16, was banned from the school team earlier this year following the introduction of a new state law that barred transgender athletes from competing in girls’ sports but rejoined the team in August after launching an appeal claiming that the state law violates federal Title IX rules, which prohibit discrimination based on sex in schools.
The Bishop Brady Giants’ decision to forfeit the game was praised by former competitive swimmer Riley Gaines, who has campaigned against transgender athletes competing in women’s sport.
The swimmer was among 16 female athletes who sued the National Collegiate Athletics Association after competing against transgender swimmer Lia Thomas.
“Bishop Brady high school varsity girls soccer team in NH forfeits and accepts a loss against opposing team whose star player is a man,” Ms Gaines posted on social media.
“They are the second team in the district to do so. This is the way. #BOYcott.”
Moms for Liberty, a conservative-leaning parental rights campaign group, praised the team for standing up for “fairness in sports”.
“Bishop Brady HS Varsity Girls Soccer Team stands up for fairness in sports!” the group posted on social media.
“These brave athletes in Concord, NH boycotted a game with a male player on the opposing team, saying no to unfair competition. Let’s support their courage and commitment to protecting women’s sports!”
The decision to boycott the game was met with opposition from the Catholic diocese, which encouraged the team to play out of a sense of Christian charity.
“We don’t believe it’s right to just forfeit a game when playing a team with a transgender athlete because we have an issue that is not being handled properly by another party,” wrote Dave Thibault, superintendent of schools for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Manchester.
Despite the superintendent’s comments, the match was ultimately cancelled.
Mr Thibault said: “The Bishop Brady High School Girls soccer team did not have enough players to play their Friday night game against Kearsarge Regional High school for multiple reasons.
“Every person is made in God’s image with a body and soul, male and female. Therefore, every person’s dignity, and every student athlete’s dignity, must be upheld. This includes student athletes from every school, public, private, or Catholic.
“We aim to participate with the best of sportsmanship and fairness based on our faith as Catholic Christians. Any student who discerns to opt out of playing for their own reasons are supported and never penalised.”
It comes after members of another girl’s soccer team, at Hillsboro-Deering High School, also refused to play against Kearsarge earlier this month amid safety concerns about taking on a biologically male player, The New Hampshire journal reported.
“This isn’t about transgenderism. This is about biology for us and the increased physical risk when playing a full contact sport against the opposing sex” Heather Thyng, the mother of a Hillsboro-Deering player, said.
Kearsage is one of two schools in New Hampshire with a player who is a biological male, despite a state law to prevent it.
Chris Sununu, the Republican governor, signed the new law in July requiring students to play on sports teams that match the sex listed on their birth certificate.
At the time, Mr Sunini said it “ensures fairness and safety in women’s sports by maintaining integrity and competitive balance in athletic competitions”.
However, a federal judge in New Hampshire later ruled that the state law did not apply to two transgender students who wished to participate in female sports at their public high schools.
The August ruling, from US District Court Chief Judge Landya McCafferty, permitted Iris Turmelle, 14, and Parker Tirell, 15, to participate in female sport after their families sued to overturn the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act.
In their lawsuit, the parents of both families claimed the bill denies their children’s equal access to educational opportunities and “singles them out for discrimination solely because they are transgender girls”.