Vermont girls high school basketball coach defends year-old decision to forfeit game in protest over trans player’s inclusion on opponent’s roster: ‘Boys play at a different speed’

A year after forfeiting a girls high school basketball game because an opponent included a trans player, a Vermont coach continues to defend that decision amid an ongoing legal battle between his athletic department and state officials.

Since the controversial forfeiture, Mid-Vermont Christian School received a one-year athletics ban from the Vermont Principals’ Association, sued state officials and was subsequently expelled from the VPA.

Still, Mid-Vermont Christian School girls coach Chris Goodwin says he doesn’t regret the decision.

‘I have four daughters. I coached all of them at some point in their careers when they played high school basketball,” Goodwin told Fox and Friends on Monday.

“I’ve also filled in for the boys’ coach when he can’t make practice, and I lead those practices, and boys just play at a different speed, with a different strength…than the girls. It’s a different game,” he said.

The Mid-Vermont Christian School basketball team lost the game last season

Goodwin said it would be “irresponsible” to force a smaller female athlete to compete against a larger opponent who was born male.

Mid Vermont Christian School, in White River Junction, Vermont, forfeited the Feb. 21, 2023, game, saying it believed the transgender player “jeopardizes the fairness of the game and the safety of our players.”

The Executive Council of the Principals Association, the governing body for school sports and activities for member schools in Vermont, ruled that the school had violated the policy and is ineligible to participate in any future tournaments it approves. The move applied to all sports.

“The VPA reaffirms its continued support of transgender student-athletes, not only as part of building an inclusive community in which every student can grow and thrive, but also as a clear expectation by Vermont state law(s) in the Agency of Education Best. Practices and VPA policies regarding transgender student-athletes,” the association said in a statement.

It sent a letter to the school stating that Mid Vermont did not comply with the association’s policies on race, gender and disability awareness.

As the VPA told CNN, “(The school) has every right to teach its beliefs to its own students. However, it cannot impose these beliefs on students from other public and private schools; denying students from other schools the opportunity to play; or hurting students from other schools because of who those students are.”

The school has since filed a lawsuit, claiming it suffered “irreparable harm as a result of being denied participation.”

Vermont state law prohibits discrimination against student athletes on the basis of gender identity

According to Mid-Vermont’s documents, the VPA “denies the Christian school and its students from participating in the state educational program and athletic competition because of their religious beliefs.”

“The state is entitled to its own views, but it has no right, nor is it constitutional, to compel private, religious schools throughout the state to follow that orthodoxy as a condition of participation in Vermont’s educational program and the state athletic association,” the lawsuit continues.

Speaking to Fox News, Goodwin was unimpressed by the VPA’s argument.

“After discussions with the administration and our players and parents, we have decided that rather than going against our religious beliefs that there are differences between men and women, we are created differently. We have decided to forfeit that game and withdraw from the tournament’ he said.

“And at that point, the governing body of the state of Vermont kicked us out of all athletic competitions in the state,” Goodwin added.

So far, 18 state lawmakers have restricted trans students in some way from playing high school sports.