The high school girls basketball team withdrew from a recent game after three players were injured. One of them was allegedly injured while playing with a 6-foot tall male player on the opposing team who identified himself as a woman.
Lowell College Charter School in Massachusetts withdrew from its Feb. 8 game against KIPP Academy at halftime, and coach Kevin Ortins pulled out of the game because the roster was becoming depleted four days before the playoffs. decided to do so. the school said.
Fox News reported KIPP Academy’s women’s team has a bearded male player on its roster who identifies as female, according to a local Massachusetts outlet daily necessitiesThe newspaper, which also reported that there was a male player on the team, said, “KIPP officials declined to confirm the player’s gender.”
The player has received death threats, which resulted in the cancellation of KIPP’s Friday game against Lynn Tech. According to Daily Item.
Inside Lowell posted a video on YouTube of the KIPP player wrestling with a college player over a basketball game, but the college player fell to the ground in pain and held her back, making it difficult for her to stand up. .
Kyle Perzal, the university’s director of athletics, told the Daily Item that KIPP athletes had nothing to do with the forfeiture decision. The two teams previously met on Dec. 12, with KIPP winning 36-29.
“No, Coach. [Ortins] We had them at home in the first game of the year, and nothing happened then, so he knew going into the game,” Perzal told the publication.
The university said in a statement that the remaining healthy players “feared that they would be injured and miss the playoffs.” The statement also said the school “reiterates its values of both inclusion and safety for all students.”
Anthony Grimaldi, KIPP Academy’s athletic director, declined to say in response to questions from The Daily Item whether the school believes male players who identify as girls are the cause of college disqualification.
“KIPP does not wish to comment at this time on why the opposing team abandoned the match. We look forward to the next match,” Grimaldi said.
Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association Section 43.3.1 handbook “No student shall be excluded from participation in a gender-specific sports team consistent with the student’s true gender identity.”
Section 43.3.2 states that a student cannot be included on a list “solely for the purpose of obtaining an unfair advantage.”
