7 San Jose State women's volleyball players have reportedly entered
the transfer portal hoping for a fresh restart after several
of their opponents forfeited matches this season, refusing to play
against their biological male teammate.
The Independent Women's Forum is now calling for the NCAA
to put out a policy protecting women's sports.
That petition has racked up over 7000 signatures.
Sia Lei Lei is an Independent Women's Forum ambassador and
a volleyball team captain at the University of Nevada, Reno,
and she joins me now.
Sia, great to have you back on the show.
Look, I don't blame these players for entering the portal
for one minute.
They want to play volleyball.
They want to enjoy their college experience.
But looking on the other side, do you even think
San Jose State is going to be able to field
A-Team next year with new players that are willing to
sign on to this chaos?
I think those women who were put through a lot
this season and I definitely support their decision.
Being a collegiate athlete is tough and there's just so
many moving parts and that added pressure was just unfathomable.
So I think it'll be interesting to see how their
season goes about next year.
And I just pray that they find a home in
wherever their next university is.
Yeah.
I mean, I feel like those players that are transferring
are going to be able to move on and they're
going to be able to enjoy their time as collegiate
athletes.
But I'm wondering if I'm a parent and the coach
of San Jose State comes into my, my, my, my
kitchen table.
I don't know if I'm going to say yes.
I am sending my daughter to play because I want
her to have to deal with all this insanity.
At least that's just me.
Meantime, the NCAA president was on Capitol Hill this week
to talk about sports betting, but things got really heated
when the topic changed to biological men competing in women's
sports.
Watch this.
If a man, a biological man wants to use their
locker room, they just have to accept it or else
they have they, the women have to go somewhere else.
They've got to go find an alternative.
Why is that fair?
We told the local folks who hosted our tournaments, they
need to create accommodations for the people who are playing.
You know, I so it's the feds on the one
hand, it's the locals.
On the other hand, the only person who doesn't seem
to bear any responsibility in this is you and the
NCAA, who are the governing body.
I I think Josh Hawley nails it there.
They're putting it on the women who all they want
to do is enjoy their time as a collegiate athlete.
They're putting it on the local tournaments who are trying
to make a bucket and really are stretched pretty thin
here to create new facilities.
I mean, when you hear something like that, do you
feel like the NCAA even has your back at all
or are they only in it for themselves?
Sia, It was really disheartening to hear that response in
the Senators hearing.
And I think that the carelessness to Title 9 and
the protections that it allows us female athletes, it just
proves that the Title 9 is in danger right now.
And I think that it's unbelievable that although we made
all those tough choices during our season, we're still not
being heard.
But we are thankful to Senator Hawley, Senator Blackburn, and
Kennedy for their leadership, and we hope that Congress sees
that we're here and we're still fighting and that we're
not backing down.
Before we let you go, this petition that you've got
7000 signatures on, what specifically are you asking for?
We are asking that the NCAA will update its student
athlete participation policy to protect women's sports.
Understood.
See Eli.
Eli with the greatest backdrop on a Zoom call that
I have ever seen.
It is beautiful.
Looks like Hawaii.
It's a great place.
My mom, my mom lived there for a year.
We know it's awesome.