Girls hoops team forfeits after injuries mount against trans opponent

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A girls high school basketball team in Massachusetts forfeited a game earlier this month after seeing a player allegedly suffer an injury while competing against a biologically male opponent who identifies as female.

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According to the New York Post, the Collegiate Charter School of Lowell in Massachusetts forfeited its Feb. 8 game against KIPP Academy at halftime after seeing three players suffer injuries in the first half of the game.

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Coach Kevin Ortins reportedly made the decision to prevent his roster from being further depleted with a playoff game four days later.

KIPP was leading the game 31-14, but it will go down in the record books as a 10-0 victory.

Fox News reported KIPP Academy has a biologically male player on its roster who identifies as female, while Massachusetts outlet the Daily Item reported that “KIPP officials refused to confirm the player’s gender identification.”

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The unnamed player is 6-foot and has facial hair, according to Fox News.

In a video of the play in question uploaded to YouTube by InsideLowell, the KIPP player wrestles the ball away from the Lowell player on a rebound, sending the girl to the ground. The Lowell player is then seen holding her back and needs help to get to her feet.

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Kyle Pelczar, the athletics director for Lowell, told the Daily Item the KIPP player didn’t have anything to do with the decision to forfeit.

“No, and coach (Ortins) knew going into the game already because we had them at home the first game of the year and nothing happened then, so he knew going into the game,” Pelczar said.

Lowell said in a statement that its remaining healthy players “feared getting injured and not being able to compete in the playoffs.”

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The statement also said the school “reiterates its values of both inclusivity and safety for all students.”

The clip has caused an uproar on social media about trans females being allowed to compete in girls sports in schools.

Prominent anti-trans commentator Riley Gaines, a former NCAA swimmer, weighed in on social media.

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“A man hitting a woman used to be called domestic abuse. Now it’s called brave,” Gaines wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

“Who watches this & actually thinks this is ‘compassionate, kind, and inclusive?’”

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