The College Fix

Commissioner of San Jose State University’s conference still learning about advantages male athletes have against females

The Mountain West Conference commissioner is still learning about the “science” as it relates to male athletes competing against females.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Gloria Nevarez told the Associated Press.

The Mountain West Conference includes San Jose State University, whose women’s volleyball team is led by a male athlete named Blaire Fleming. Four teams have officially forfeited games against SJSU, and a fifth, the University of Nevada Reno, intends to. However, the Nevada players are in conflict with their university, who want them to play against San Jose State on Oct. 26.

“I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out,” Nevarez told the AP. “The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The American College of Sports Medicine affirmed men have physical advantages over women. “Biological sex is a determinant of athletic performance: adult males are faster, stronger, more powerful than females because of fundamental sex differences in anatomy and physiology dictated by sex chromosomes,” the group stated in 2023.

“Adult males are stronger, more powerful, and faster than females of similar age and training status,” the group concluded. “The sex difference in athletic performance where endurance or muscular power is required is roughly 10-30% depending on the event.”

The attention given to the dominance of a male athlete against females is “heartbreaking” Nevarez also said.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez told the AP. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

If you’re wondering why teams are forfeiting against @SJSU, here’s the reason.

Last night another woman was smashed in the face by a kill from a man posing as a woman.

It’s unfair, unsafe, and regressive, yet our “leaders” remain silent. pic.twitter.com/OS15AFxQsp

— Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) October 18, 2024

Women’s sports activist Riley Gaines has continued to call attention to Fleming’s dominance, sharing a clip last night of the male athlete crushing a spike against an opponent.

“Last night another woman was smashed in the face by a kill from a man posing as a woman,” Gaines, a former University of Kentucky swimmer, wrote on X.

“It’s unfair, unsafe, and regressive, yet our ‘leaders’ remain silent.”

MORE: San Jose State women’s volleyball crushes with male player

IMAGES: San Jose State University

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