"She felt robbed, I felt deflated" - Father on teenage daughter suffering concussion during volleyball match vs team with transgender player
An incident of a female volleyball player allegedly being injured by a transgender athlete was reported in October during a match at Half Moon Bay High School.
Aaron Lester, a transgender athlete, allegedly injured a female athlete by hitting the ball hard into the latter's head during the game. The female athlete's father spoke to Reduxx about the incident, stating that something seemed off to him even before the game.
He said he spotted Lester before the match and texted his wife in confusion, asking if there was any boy on the opposition team, to which his wife affirmed. The father of the girl was talking to the other parents present at the game and only noticed that his daughter was injured after another parent brought it to his attention.
He rushed to his daughter to ensure there was no bleeding. After taking her for a medical assessment, his daughter complained about blurry vision and head pain. The medical assessors confirmed a concussion.
The father stated that after the diagnosis, his daughter was advised to stop playing volleyball further, which he felt was unfair.
"...My kid ended up not being able to play for the remainder of her senior year. She was playing for fun, and this was her final year doing it. She felt robbed. I felt deflated and powerless," the father stated.
The father of the female athlete injured during game against transgender athlete expresses concern about stepping forward
The father of the female athlete expressed that he was scared of the consequences his family might have to suffer if he brought the incident to light. He continued, via the aforementioned souce:
"If I say something out loud, will my kid be ostracized at school? If I don’t say anything, will I be silently accepting boys playing against girls at schools? Are there parents that would shame me and my family for saying anything? Don’t get me wrong, I have empathy for the boy.
"I don’t know what it feels like for someone to be born male and not identify with that. Life must be difficult. But at what point does someone’s gender dysphoria cross the empathy boundary? In my case when my daughter was injured."
As per the aforementioned outlet, Lester was born to California musician John Lester and Lisa Phelan, who is a social justice activist. The transgender athlete apparently accounted for one-third of her team's points and helped them achieve a comfortable win.
The outlet claims that they reviewed the footage from the game, noting that the transgender athlete jumped higher than the other players on the court and struck the ball with considerably more force.