Female high-school volleyball athlete injured by spike from transgender opponent

Footage of a North Carolina girl’s high school volleyball match has surfaced where a female player suffered a serious head injury after a transgender girl in the opposite team spiked a ball towards her causing injuries to her head and neck. The incident occurred at Hiwassee Dam High School.

One witness estimated that the ball was travelling at 70 mph (112 kmph), which was described as “abnormally fast” by the witness.

The Hiwassee Dam female player, who has not been named, is still dealing with concussion symptoms, which include issues with her vision and has not yet been cleared to play again.

The incident prompted the Cherokee County school board to vote 5-1 to forfeit all matches for its schools’ women’s volleyball teams against Highlands School, who the transgender student, who also hasn’t been named, plays for.

The board said their reason for voting for forfeiture was due to safety concerns.

“The County will not participate in any volleyball games, varsity or junior varsity, against Highlands due to safety concerns,” the minutes from the board’s meeting read. 

Hiwassee Dam High School’s athletic director David Payne attended the meeting and said that “a statement needs to be made that it [was] unfair and unsafe” for teams to compete against Highlands.

Payne acknowledged that there were “mixed feelings” from both the players and their parents.

“There is a competitive advantage and a safety concern for certain teams — it’s not the same for all teams,” Vice Chair Jeff Martin added. “I can tell you that the board wasn’t searching out this kind of thing. It was brought to our attention based on safety concerns.”

“The biggest thing for us, especially after seeing the video of the injury, we felt very strongly that it was a safety concern,” board member Jeff Tatham said. “I think most of the board members also felt like there’s a competitive advantage issue.”

“The county will not participate in any volleyball games, varsity or junior varsity, against Highlands due to safety concerns,” the board stated.

Board member Joe Wood, who voted for forfeiture, said his decision was solely “based on safety,” and not the gender of the opposing athlete.