A transgender school athlete filmed knocking down a rival player, played five other female sports and was reportedly suspended for saying ‘ooh t*tties’ in a locker room.
The 6-foot-2 student from KIPP Academy Lynn in Massachusetts injured three opponents during a girls basketball game on Feb. 8.
Collegiate Charter School of Lowell forfeited the game to avoid losing more players ahead of the playoffs, and KIPP later withdrew after a backlash.
The same transgender student not only competed in girls’ basketball, but also in rowing, volleyball, hurdles, shot put and taekwondo.
Before the video of the game sparked national outrage, the stubble-bearded student was featured in a league promotion for an All-Star game on Nov. 9.
Before the video of the game sparked national outrage, the student — with stubble — was featured in a league promotion for an All-Star game in November
Her rowing activities made her teammates so uncomfortable that she was suspended and kicked off the team, according to a report that went all the way to the U.S. Senate.
The student competed for a private rowing club in Massachusetts in 2021-2022 before an alleged “direct case of harassment” in her team’s locker rooms was reported.
The March 20 report to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee by Republican Senator Bill Cassidy used male pronouns for the student.
“The male athlete was caught openly staring at one of the female athletes as she changed in the women’s locker room and remarking ‘oooh t*tties!’,” it said.
‘When a nearby female athlete asked if it was the first time he had seen female breasts, the man laughed and replied “uhh yes”. The male athlete has been suspended for this incident.”
The report also claimed that she caused “a lot of problems for the female athletes” on the team and that they avoided the locker room to avoid her.
The US Center for SafeSport intervened after the incident and the transgender athlete never rowed for the male or female team again.
A high school girls basketball team in Massachusetts was forced to forfeit its match after a transgender opposing player injured three players
Video shows the transgender player ripping the ball out of another player’s arms, forcing her to fall
Collegiate Charter exited the game just after 16 minutes of play, with KIPP leading 31-14. A Collegiate Charter player is seen struggling to move and writhing in pain
A letter to USRowing from 15 parents of the club’s 40 female participants further alleged that the girls had been “intimidated” into silence.
“Our daughters have remained silent because they are afraid. We tried to stand up for them, but we were shut down.” read the letter.
“We have tried to engage leadership at all levels. (But) name-calling and threats to mental health are used as emotional blackmail to keep us all quiet, while women are harmed and devalued.”
Parents said one girl on each trip had to “bring one for the team” and share a room with their transgender teammate.
“The rowing team also required the male athlete to have a room with him during outings. “The girls talked to us about giving up rowing because of the intimidation of being forced to sit alone in a hotel room with a man,” it said.
The chair of USRowing’s medical committee is endocrinologist Kathryn Ackerman, a former U.S. national team rower.
She is also medical director of the Female Athlete Program in the Department of Sports Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital.
The hospital in August 2022 removed the reference on its website to performing vaginoplasty – a male-to-female sex change operation – on 17-year-olds after it came under fire.
The chair of USRowing’s medical committee is endocrinologist Kathryn Ackerman, a former U.S. national team rower
Ackerman co-authored a paper in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2022 titled Improving the Inclusion and Well-Being of Trans and Gender Non-Conforming Collegiate Student-Athletes.
She also presented an online talk in October on caring for transgender athletes, outlining the advantages male athletes have over female athletes.
Ackerman wrote that female athletes had “30 percent lower maximal cardiac output” and 25 to 50 percent lower VO2 max, along with less blood and therefore less oxygen capacity.
Women had ‘about 45 percent less lean body mass’. “So that would indicate that women are 40 to 60 percent weaker in their upper body strength, and 25 percent weaker in their lower body.”
Collegiate Charter School officials said the team decided to forfeit the basketball game because the other players were afraid of getting injured and not being able to compete in the playoffs that took place a few days later.
“The bench was already empty when we started the game, with the 12-player roster having four players unable to play,” Collegiate Charter School spokesperson Casey Crane said.
“When the coach saw three more go down in the first half, leaving him with five players, he made the call to end the game early.
“The upcoming Charter School playoffs were just around the corner, and he needed a healthy and robust bench in four days.”
Collegiate Charter exited the game just after 16 minutes of play, with KIPP leading 31-14. However, the final score will now be 10-0 due to the forfeit.
Shocking video from the game shows the taller, bulkier transgender player ripping the ball out of another player’s arms, forcing her to fall.
The Collegiate Charter player struggles to move and writhes in pain.
Collegiate Charter School of Lowell Athletic Director Kyle Pelczar shared The daily item the coach knew about KIPP’s transgender player in advance and she was not the reason they lost.
“No, and coach (Kevin Ortins) knew it going into the game because we had them at home the first game of the year and nothing happened then, so he knew going into the game,” Pelczar said.
KIPP then withdrew from the next game against Lynn Tech after the transgender student received death threats over the video.
The Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association said a player cannot be excluded from a team based on gender identity.
Section 43.3.1 of the handbook states: ‘A student shall not be excluded from participation in a gender-specific sports team that is consistent with the student’s bona fide gender identity.’
The handbook states that a student cannot be listed on a team roster for the purpose of gaining an unfair advantage.
“It is a recommended best practice that schools communicate with their opponents as appropriate about the gender-specific needs of their team to promote inclusion,” the handbook said.