Starting November 27, six select women’s volleyball teams from the Mountain West Conference will compete for their conference championship in Las Vegas. But now, 11 players and a coach from five of these teams are testifying in federal court, speaking out about how their First Amendment and Title IX rights were violated by the conference. Talk about a high-stakes, emotionally charged few weeks for these women… 

At the center of this controversy is San Jose State University (SJSU). Despite an impressive record of 14-5 (20-5 including invites and tournaments), seven of their wins are illegitimate as they came from forfeits — teams refusing to compete against them. Technically, all of their wins (and losses) are illegitimate. Why? Because SJSU’s women’s volleyball team includes a male player. 

Teams like Southern Utah, Boise State, Wyoming, Utah State, and Nevada have had enough. They’re taking a stand in court, asking for losses against SJSU to be rescinded and calling for the male player to be barred from the conference championships. Among those testifying are a female captain of the SJSU team and an SJSU assistant coach, both breaking ranks to challenge the unfairness they’ve witnessed. 

This movement, dubbed “Project BOYcott” (emphasis on “boy”), is rooted in frustration, a sense of injustice and a refusal to compromise on the safety and fairness women have fought generations to secure. The University of Nevada Reno left no room for questions as to why they conceded: “We demand our right to safety and fair competition. We refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes.” 

And that’s the heart of the issue. Allowing a man to compete on a women’s team is neither safe nor fair. 

This is not about hatred or animosity toward an individual or a group of people. It’s about upholding the rights of women to compete in safe environments where they have a chance to succeed. For decades, strong women like my grandma fought tirelessly to ensure girls could succeed in sports, and we owe it to them — and the next generation — to not back down now. 

A man’s feelings should never outweigh a woman’s right to physical safety. If you believe otherwise, you’re not the progressive, social justice warrior you think you are — you’re a misogynist. 

This isn’t just happening in the Mountain West. Across the nation, athletes and schools are taking similar stands. Stone Ridge Christian High just forfeited a match against SF Waldorf after discovering their opponent’s star player was a 6’2″ male. The school’s principal made their stance clear, stating, “God wonderfully and immutably created each person as male or female,” and refusing to endorse the notion that biology can be ignored. 

In Massachusetts, Dighton-Rehoboth High forfeited a field hockey match after a female player suffered severe facial and dental injuries the previous year from a slap shot to the face by a male competitor.  

In New Hampshire, two high school soccer teams refused to compete earlier this year for similar reasons, with one parent bluntly stating: “This is about biology and the increased risk when playing a contact sport against the opposite sex.” 

The theme is clear: girls’ safety is at risk, fair competition is vanishing, and people are finally standing up. 

These young women deserve immense respect for their courage. It’s no small thing for high school and college athletes to challenge their coaches, administrators, and institutions. These girls have skin in the game — they’ve sacrificed years of hard work to perfect their craft. Standing up for their rights isn’t easy, but it’s worth it. 

The simple solution? Remove male athletes from women’s teams. Unfortunately, that would require leaders with the backbone and moral clarity to act. We’ve all seen, that’s in short supply. Instead, the burden is left for the female athletes themselves to bear.  

When I was staring down a 6’4″ man a few lanes over from me at our NCAA Championships in 2022, I wasn’t willing to forfeit. Why should I have to compromise? After all, I was the one who worked hard to be there. It didn’t seem fair to step down. And guess what? It’s not fair. And it’s not easy. But no one ever said it was going to be. They said it would be worth it. These girls and women taking this decisive action realized that sooner than I did, and I applaud their leadership and willingness to do the hard thing.  

While it may appear these girls are standing down, it’s quite the opposite. They are standing up for something far greater than just themselves. They’re standing up for the next generation of girls who aspire to shatter glass ceilings in the world of sports and beyond.  

In New Hampshire, two high school soccer teams refused to compete earlier this year for similar reasons, with one parent bluntly stating: “This is about biology and the increased risk when playing a contact sport against the opposite sex.” 

We are witnessing a cultural shift. Cancel culture is losing its grip, and people are reclaiming their right to free speech and fairness. Look no further than the viral “Trump dance” spreading through college and professional sports — it’s a lighthearted yet powerful symbol of defiance, patriotism, and the fading of political correctness. 

Let’s hope it becomes easier for more teams to BOYcott unfair matches. The brave girls and women mentioned here are paving the way, showing us that we can’t wait for leaders to do the right thing unprovoked. Change starts with us. 

No one seemed more surprised about the New York Giants’ decision to start third-string quarterback Tommy DeVito this weekend over veteran backup Drew Lock than Drew Lock. 

While addressing reporters inside the Giants’ locker room Wednesday, Lock was asked specifically about the depth chart and why, if he was listed as the No. 2 quarterback up until this point, DeVito was named Sunday’s starter against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

“That’s a question I might still have for myself,” he responded. 

“It was expressed to me that I was going to be the two, and, I don’t know, it’s just an interesting situation. There’s not much I can really say about it besides, again, I’m going to be here for [DeVito], and we’re still communicating, still very good friends — believe it or not,” he continued with a smile. 

Daniel Jones was benched Monday in favor of fan favorite DeVito. Head coach Brian Daboll pointed to DeVito’s 3-3 record last season as one of the reasons why.

“Got a lot of respect for all three of those guys,” Daboll said. “After evaluating a bunch of things and looking at a lot of tape and being around Tommy last year, where he created a little bit of a spark for us, that’s the reason why we’re going with Tommy.

“Drew will be the backup. Continue to work with him. He’s been nothing but a pro, and as was Daniel. It’s never an easy conversation to have with the players. But felt like this was a necessary move for us and look forward to working with Tommy and getting him ready to go against Tampa.”

Daboll said Wednesday the team will make a final decision by Friday on whether Jones will serve as the emergency third quarterback. 

Jones has thrown for eight touchdowns and seven interceptions this season. He is 3-13 in his last 16 starts, and New York ranks last in the league in scoring, averaging 15.6 points per game.

The groundbreaking 3-on-3 women’s basketball league co-founded by two WNBA veterans will not feature one of the games biggest stars in its inaugural season. 

ESPN reported Caitlin Clark won’t be a part of the 36-player Unrivaled Basketball League, which still has two “wild-card” slots to fill for its first season. 

Tip-off for the league co-founded by New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart and Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier is scheduled for Jan. 17.

Unrivaled revealed rosters and coaches for its six-team league, along with its 2025 schedule, Wednesday. All of its games will be played in Miami, and more than 45 primetime regular season matchups will be aired on TNT and truTV, while also being streamed on Max. 

The six teams will be the Lunar Owls, led by Collier; Mist, which Stewart is a part of; Laces; Phantom; Rose; and Vinyl. 

It was rumored Unrivaled was trying to get Clark to join its ranks of top talent in a league where every player has a vested interest and equity in it. 

Front Office Sports reported the WNBA Rookie of the Year received a “Messi-like offer” to join the league, referring to soccer great Lionel Messi, who signed a generous contract to join Inter Miami FC in Major League Soccer. 

The offer is reportedly more than $1 million, plus revenue-sharing opportunities from the league. To put that into perspective, the Fever paid Clark $76,535 this year. 

Among the talent already set to play in two months are Kelsey Plum, Brittney Griner, Jewell Loyd, Kahleah Copper, Aliyah Boston, Arike Ogunbowale and Skylar Diggins-Smith. 

Two close friends of Clark, Kate Martin and Lexie Hull, are also a part of the league, which led many to speculate Unrivaled is trying to bring in familiar faces to entice Clark to join. 

Clark has had a busy offseason despite reportedly not joining this league. She was a part of The Annika LPGA Tournament pro-am, where she showed off her golf skills, while being announced as a guest speaker at a women’s sports awards luncheon on Feb. 4 to celebrate Nationals Girls and Women in Sports Day. 

Clark was announced as someone joining David Letterman for his annual lecture series at his alma mater, Ball State, in Indiana. 

EXCLUSIVE: On Aug. 30, Louisiana Tech’s women’s volleyball team took the court in Fullerton, California, for a season opener against San Jose State and Spartan senior Blaire Fleming at the annual Cal State Fullerton Invitational. Fleming, one of the top players in the entire Mountain West, has been alleged to be a trans athlete and biological male in multiple lawsuits.

Louisiana Tech head volleyball coach Amber McCray confirmed to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that she and her team were unaware of these allegations when they played the match against San Jose State on Aug. 30. LA Tech lost in straight sets as Fleming led the game in kills with 14 and total attacks with 29. 

A San Jose State spokesperson confirmed to Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the Northern California-based university did not formally notify the opponents on its volleyball schedule of the situation involving the first lawsuit and the context in it after it was filed in September. The game between San Jose State and LA Tech took place prior to the first lawsuit, amid a few reports of the situation by multiple media outlets. 

The first court documents that alleged Fleming is a trans athlete were filed in late September when teammate Brooke Slusser joined a lawsuit against the NCAA for its policies on gender identity and eligibility. Slusser alleged that San Jose State made an effort to hide Fleming’s biological sex from Slusser and other players since Fleming transferred to the school in 2022. Slusser claims she shared changing spaces and a bedroom with Fleming without knowing that information.

When asked if San Jose State notified LA Tech of the situation involving Fleming and complaints by players prior to the first court filings, a San Jose State spokesperson noted that Slusser didn’t join the lawsuit until September. That spokesperson has declined to confirm whether any notice was given to LA Tech on the situation prior to that. 

However, that spokesperson has confirmed that San Jose State has been in communication with all campuses the team visits for away games to coordinate security. Police protection was assigned to the team at the start of October amid alleged threats against Slusser’s well-being, Fox News Digital previously reported. Those security efforts include coordinating backup from other police departments when the team travels.

News of the first lawsuit and controversy surrounding Fleming’s presence on the team spread and prompted a total of seven forfeited matches from five different teams on San Jose State’s schedule. 

But LA Tech’s head volleyball coach and athletic director claims the team did not have the information to make an informed decision on whether they should forfeit. Instead, McCray said the team found out that next day by word from parents who had heard rumors. 

McCray and LA Tech athletic director Ryan Ivey first addressed their lack of knowledge of the situation in an email response to a letter from The Concerned Women of America of Louisiana (CWALA) and its State Director Laura Hubber.

In Ivey’s response, he indicated that the team would have sought “a different outcome” if they had known about the allegations in Slusser’s lawsuits, which had been previously reported but not officially notified to LA Tech.

“We received no notification prior to the match with San Jose State that a transgender athlete would be competing.  Had we been notified; we would have worked toward a different outcome. I can assure you that providing a safe and equitable environment for our female student-athletes to compete and live out their dreams and ambitions is of the utmost importance to us,” Ivey wrote in an email addressed from Ivey to Huber that has been obtained by Fox News Digital. 

Ivey provided a follow up statement to Fox News Digital. 

“We would have contacted the tournament regarding competitive fairness and player safety. Their response would determine our course of action.”  

McCray’s email response recounted when her team learned of Fleming’s birth sex the following day.

“We were not made aware of Blaire Fleming’s situation until the night after our match against San Jose State, so there was no knowledge of the need to prepare our team for this. It was also the very first match of the season, and the one and only match every year we do not have a prepared scouting report on our opponent because there is no video available yet on the current season’s team and thus no research on their current players. While the public revelation about Blaire Fleming came in April 2024, it did not make national news where it was widely circulated until this Fall 2024 season, hence the reason why San Jose State opponents did not forfeit matches in previous years as they have this year,” McCray wrote. 

McCray also said that she believes the host team at the August invitational, Cal State Fullerton, was not aware of Fleming’s birth sex either. 

“Host team Cal State Fullerton did not inform us that a transgender student-athlete was competing on one of the teams invited to the tournament. I am also unsure if they were made aware prior to the competition, or if they found out afterwards like we did,” McCray wrote. 

McCray also confirmed that the LA Tech players were kept in a separate and distant locker room from San Jose State’s players. 

“I am unsure of San Jose State’s locker room situation, but I know our team was separated from both other teams as our locker room was on the opposite side of the building from both San Jose State and Cal State Fullerton the entire weekend of [Aug. 30 to Aug. 31],” McCray wrote. 

Louisiana became the 18th state in the U.S. to enact a state law to prevent trans inclusion in women’s sports in the summer of 2022. 

That July, the state passed the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act, which requires schools to “designate intercollegiate and interscholastic athletic teams according to the biological sex of the team members.” It defines “biological sex” as the sex listed on a person’s birth certificate at the time of their birth. It also explicitly states that teams designated for females are “not open to participation” by anyone whose birth certificate said male, which specifically excludes trans girls and women.

The law applies to public elementary, middle and high schools, as well as public universities. It will also apply to any private school or university that receives public funds. The law also gives students and others the ability to sue schools who allow trans girls and women to play on female sports teams, and prevents action taken against anyone who reports a school who violates the law.

LA Tech’s match against San Jose State took place in California, however, where there is a law to protect trans inclusion in women’s sports.

Concerned Women for America legislative strategist Macy Petty provided a comment to Fox News Digital on the dialogue between LA Tech and the organization. 

“Dozens of female athletes this fall had to find out through news outlets that the institution they’ve been sacrificing their whole lives for stabbed them in the back. Some of them, such as LA Tech, didn’t even know until after they competed in the farce. The almighty administrators are finally having to answer, and we support these girls as they take to the courts. The legal court, that is,” Petty said. 

Slusser has since filed another lawsuit against the Mountain West and is joined by several other players in the conference in alleging the conference and San Jose State have failed to protect female athletes amid Fleming’s ongoing inclusion. 

An emergency hearing has been scheduled for Thursday in Denver. A judge will determine whether to grant an injunction that seeks to disqualify San Jose State from competing in the conference tournament and disqualify Fleming from competing in the upcoming conference tournament. The injunction is also seeking to remove the losses from the records of five teams who protested by not competing against SJSU.

San Jose State finished the regular season with a 14-5 record and a 12-5 conference record. Seven of its wins and six of its conference wins came via forfeit by opposing teams amid the controversy. Utah State and Boise State are in the tournament picture and could be potential opponents for San Jose State in Las Vegas. They have already taken losses. Boise State accepted two losses after refusing to face Fleming earlier in the season. 

A Mountain West spokesperson told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that if San Jose State reaches the final in the upcoming tournament, and their opponent in that game forfeits out of protest, that San Jose State would be recognized as conference champions and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

San Jose State has repeatedly defended the presence of Fleming on the team. 

“Our athletes all comply with NCAA and Mountain West Conference policies and are eligible to play under the rules of those organizations. Our volleyball team members have earned the right to compete, and we are deeply disappointed for them and with them that they are being denied those opportunities through cancelations and forfeits. We are also proud of how they have persevered through these challenges on the court,” a statement provided to Fox News Digital by a university spokesperson said.