Confusion surrounds another women’s volleyball match involving San José State University — which reportedly has a transgender athlete on its roster.
University of Nevada players voted to forfeit the match, but the university later issued a statement saying the Oct. 26 match would take place as scheduled, the Nevada Current reported Monday.
Four universities, including Boise State University, have canceled or forfeited matches with San José State.
“The players’ decision also does not represent the position of the university,” University of Nevada officials said in a statement to the Current. “The university intends to move forward with the match as scheduled, and the players may choose not to participate in the match on the day of the contest. No players will be subject to any team disciplinary action for their decision not to participate in the match.”
Boise State has said little about its decision to forfeit its Sept. 28 match.
But emails and text messages revealed that, in the days before the forfeit, Boise State officials repeatedly discussed San José State’s reportedly transgender player, James Dawson of Boise State Public Radio reported Monday.
“I think what is important to understand is that student-athletes may have feelings about the topic that they want to share, but maybe not in the group setting,” Christina Van Tol, a Boise State senior associate athletic director, wrote on Sept. 22, according to Dawson’s report. “I think the goal is to allow them to share whether or not they have hesitation or issues with playing against the SJSU player.”
Boise State Public Radio requested written communications from Boise State on Sept. 27, the day the forfeiture was announced.
Separately, Idaho EdNews requested records related to the forfeiture on Oct. 2. According to Idaho public records law, agencies have 10 working days to release requested records, which means Boise State’s deadline is today.