"They took away the only safe space we had"- SJSU player makes heartbreaking confession amid coach's suspension for speaking against Blaire Fleming

By Animesh Pandey

Modified Nov 04, 2024 03:17 GMT

The controversy surrounding San Jose State University volleyball player Blaire Fleming has taken a drastic turn as the university's administration suspended the women's volleyball team's assistant coach. Fleming's teammate Brooke Slusser has expressed her opinion on the same.

Melissa Batie-Smoose, who was the assistant coach of the San Jose State Spartans women's volleyball team, spoke against Fleming's presence on the team. She also filed a Title IX complaint against the university administration, for which she was sacked from her job.

Slusser protested against the same by posting on her X account,

"My assistant coach spoke truth to protect my team.Then…they fire her. They took away the only safe space we had in the program.Because she knew that it was right to stand up for the 18 women on the team.Not one man."

Slusser had previously signed up for the lawsuit against the NCAA, which is against the forceful inclusion of transgenders in women's sports at any level. Slusser recently shared her thoughts against the NCAA's approach to this issue on her X handle,

"Let’s be realistic! If the NCAA keeps allowing men in women’s sports then what is there to stop coaches from having all men on a team. Our next generation of women should never have to be put in the position to worry about beating out men for a scholarship opportunity!"

Brooke Slusser had spoken out against the presence of Blaire Fleming in the team, for which she had received several death threats.

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All about the controversy surrounding Blaire Fleming

All about the controversy surrounding Blaire Fleming [Image Source : Blaire Fleming's Instagram]

The San Jose State University's women's volleyball team has faced several boycott calls due to the presence of Blaire Fleming, who is reportedly a transgender. Boise State University has recently boycotted their Mountain West Conference match against the San Jose State University for the second time.

The issue further escalated after San Jose State Spartans clashed against their counterparts from San Diego State University. Fleming's spike move hit the face of Kiera Herron, who fell to the ground due to its impact.

Several sports personalities, including Riley Gaines and Martina Navratilova, have spoken against the university administration's decision to continue with Fleming. Fleming's teammate Brooke Slusser too spoke out against her, for which she received death threats.

However, things escalated when Melissa Batie-Smoose was suspended for taking her stand. The San Jose State University issued a press release which mentioned,

"The associate head coach of the San Jose State University women’s volleyball team is not with the team at this time, and we will not provide further information on this matter."

Navratilova slammed this move as she posted on her X handle [formerly Twitter],

"This is just crazy. And so divisive. One male body negatively affects and impacts so many females- how is this inclusive and progressive?

Answer- it’s not. It’s the opposite- it excludes the female who didn’t make the team and is actually regressive."

Blaire Fleming's presence on the San Jose State Spartans team has led to forfeitures by Boise State University, Southern Utah University, University of Wyoming, University of Utah, and the University of Nevada in the Mountain West Conference tournament.