Christian high school forfeits playoff game against transgender opponent  

A Christian high school in California has forfeited a girls’ volleyball game against an opposing school with a male player.  

In a statement to families Friday, Stone Ridge Christian (SRC) explained their decision to forfeit.  

“We were just informed that our opponent, San Francisco Waldorf, has a male athlete playing for their team,” the email began. “At SRC, we believe God’s Word is authoritative and infallible.  

“And as Genesis makes clear, God wonderfully and immutably created each person as male or female. We do not believe sex is changeable and we do not intend to participate in events that send a different message.  

“Standing for Biblical truth means more than the outcome of a game.” 

Genesis 1:27 (ESV) reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”  

SRC’s girls’ volleyball team was seeded fourth in the state regional playoffs. They had defeated their first round opponent Wednesday before forfeiting to the top-seeded San Francisco Waldorf.  

A report from Jan. 2024 said Waldorf’s transgender player has been competing in numerous girls’ sports – basketball, soccer and volleyball – for three years.  

An Islamic school also forfeited a game against Waldorf to protect its female students from being forced to share a locker room with a male. 

“This is a heartbreaking end to our season,” Julie Fagundes, SRC administrator, said in a news release. “But I hope you will join me in congratulating these outstanding student-athletes. SRC is proud of them.” 

The school’s leadership also cited their “responsibility to care for the health and safety of our athletes” as a reason for withdrawing.  

After all, female athletes have sustained major injuries competing against biological males, including severe head and neck injuries, concussions, lost teeth, and back injuries. 

But despite the obvious lack of fairness – and physical danger – to female athletes, California insists biological men be allowed to compete in accordance with their gender identity. 

California’s education code allows students to “participate in sex-segregated school programs and activities, including athletic teams and competitions, and use facilities consistent with his or her gender identity, irrespective of the gender listed on the pupil’s records.”  

Earlier this year, the state forced a surfing tournament to undo its requirement that surfers compete according to their biological sex.  

But Stone Ridge has received plenty of support too.  

Riley Gaines, a former college athlete and prominent defender of girls’ sports, praised the team.  

“Show them some love for standing firm!” she posted.