A volleyball player who can hit a ball 80 mph has an unfair advantage over his opponents, a new complaint alleges, prompting at least one university to cancel a game against the player’s team.
Blaire Fleming, an outside and right winger for San Jose State University (SJSU), is a redshirt junior at the school.
According to her teammate Brooke Slusser, she has confessed that she is a man by nature.
Teammate Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA over the player’s recording. She said in a proposed addition to the lawsuit that Fleming, who Slusser says is biologically male, hit balls “faster than she had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball,” Cowboy State Daily reported.
“The girls did everything they could to avoid Fleming’s spikes but were still unable to fully protect themselves,” she wrote in the attachment, according to the publication that obtained the lawsuit.
Blaire Fleming (pictured) throws balls ‘faster than ever’ [a teammate] had ever seen a woman hit a volleyball
Blaire Fleming, an outside and right wing hitter for San Jose State University (SJSU), is a redshirt 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 played on her high school’s women’s team at John Champe High School in Virginia, according to Reduxx.
Slusser, a transfer 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 strength that exceeded that of any girl on the team,” according to Kick out.
She began to hear conversations between teammates about the player.
“The girls did everything they could to avoid Fleming’s spikes but were still unable to fully protect themselves,” Slusser (pictured) wrote in the lawsuit.
Slusser was even more shocked when Fleming asked if she could stay in her room during their volleyball trip.
After months of sharing rooms, Fleming took the teammate aside and admitted he was transgender, Slusser said in the proposed filing to the lawsuit.
Slusser, several other women and women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines are suing the NCAA for allowing Fleming to compete in the Division I sport, Cowboy State Daily reported.
They argue that Fleming poses a risk to biological female athletes because the 6-foot-1 player hits too hard and has an unfair advantage.
Fleming currently ranks second among the team’s best players, with 103 kills and 118.5 points this season.
The NCAA has already responded to an earlier version of the lawsuit, saying the plaintiffs cannot bring a sex discrimination lawsuit against the organization because it is a regulatory body and not a public university, Cowboy State Daily reported.
The organization also said the women cannot punish other state organizations because they are simply following NCAA rules.
Slusser, a transfer from Alabama, said she had no idea Fleming was reportedly born biologically male, despite noting she had “a jumping ability and strength that surpassed that of 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 barred her from competing on women’s teams.
Fleming plays for the Coastal Carolina team wearing number 11
Southern Utah University canceled its Sept. 14 game against the undefeated team, but would not confirm whether it was Fleming’s doing, Cowboy State Daily reported.
The team told Outkick it only wanted to play in two conference games that weekend.
No other team has canceled a game against San Jose State, the team confirmed to Cowboy State Daily. However, the team would not comment on Fleming’s gender.
DailyMail.com reached out to Fleming, Slusser and SJSU head coach Todd Kress for comment.
The University of Wyoming, which plays SJSU on October 5, recently discussed safety issues and concerns with the team and decided to play the team from California.
After months of sharing rooms, Fleming took Slusser (pictured) aside and admitted he was transgender, the teammate claims
Slusser joined the lawsuit against the NCAA because she feels uncomfortable having Fleming on the team, even though she said she doesn’t want the athlete to be bullied
“No student-athletes expressed any concerns about their safety,” UW spokesman Chad Baldwin told Cowboy State Daily.
Each team member and coach’s opinions “on fairness vary,” Baldwin said.
According to Outkick, Slusser doesn’t want Fleming to be bullied, but she is concerned about safety.
“One thing that is really important in this case is the physical safety aspects of volleyball,” her attorney, Bill Bock, told Outkick.
“And that’s what they’re actually seeing every day. So it’s just an insane, misguided policy that’s stealing women’s athletic dreams and giving them to men, and at the same time endangering women’s health and safety.”
According to Outkick, Slusser and other teammates frequently worried that Fleming’s strength could cause a concussion if he was hit too hard.
An opposing team’s mother told Reduxx that her daughter was experiencing more physical injuries and strains than ever before and that she had to constantly ice and rub her arms after blocking shots from Fleming during two games.
Fleming has not publicly responded to her teammate’s allegations
‘[She] sometimes it was just unstoppable. [She] “He jumped so high that I was afraid our blockers wouldn’t be able to defend against such a fast attack,” the mother said.
“Coincidentally, my daughter’s stats in those two games weren’t as good as in most other games. Her stats were dramatically different because she was trying to compete with a man who, according to my daughter, stared at her after playing and was extremely arrogant.”
Additionally, an SJSU teammate alleged that the school told them they could not discuss Fleming’s biological gender outside of the team and that “things would end badly for the team members” if they did, according to Outkick.
According to Slusser’s attorney, the player joined the lawsuit because she disagrees with the NCAA’s rules on transgender eligibility and sees it as a hindrance to the performance of female athletes.
“The reason for that is that there are simply inherent physical differences between men and women. And those physical differences should be cause for celebration, but by allowing men to have vastly increased athletic capabilities and athletic potential based on biology alone, it prevents women from winning titles, being celebrated and being celebrated for their own unique physical abilities,” attorney Bock said.
Fleming played on her high school’s women’s team at John Champe High School in Virginia
Marshi Smith of the Independent Council on Women’s Sports condemned the NCAA for “defrauding female athletes by withholding information about the true gender of a teammate or opponent.” Slusser said she was never told during the recruiting process that there was a transgender athlete on the team.
“Women don’t get the chance to decide whether they want to take increased safety risks on the field or share the locker room with men,” she told Reduxx.
“The NCAA’s pay system encourages cheating, which results in financial and academic advantages for men at the expense of girls and young women in sports. This harmful practice must be stopped immediately.”
Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn called Fleming’s participation a “slap in the face to every female athlete,” in a post on Facebook.
“Why does the NCAA act like it’s ‘fair’ for biological males to compete against females?” she wrote.
‘Look how hard and fast biological male Blaire Fleming of San Jose State hits the ball – unfair AND dangerous.’